lifetime. And not just to prayer but to a refreshed, renewed
focus and fervency of prayer they’d never known before.
My heart burned within me as this stranger spoke what I
knew to be God’s very word for my life that morning. I knew
then that in some way he was right. I wasn’t sure how or what
all of it meant. I just knew it would be part of my calling. My
purpose. The gravity of what he said, in fact, was so profound
and confirming and laced with pinpointed Scriptures and clarity
that I went home and wrote down every word I could remember.
I still have the notes of that experience to this day.
And now, as I look back on those notes, it’s all clear to me
—you were a part of that first meeting. God had you in mind
that day. He knew that years later we’d be here together in this
book, our hearts stirred together for fervent prayer.
In fact, over the past decade or so, I’ve had the privilege of
encouraging many women in their prayer lives—never
dreaming I’d write a book about it someday. I started first at my
home church in Dallas, and then (as God gave me opportunity)
at our ministry’s conferences in different parts of the country.
To this day we always set aside a part of the program for the
women in attendance to write out their most heartfelt requests