A Good Night to Pray

A Good Night to Pray!
(A short story written by Joy A. Adewumi)

Tears burned in Tamuna's eyes as she turned to bury her face in her pillow to muffle her sobs, it would do no good to disturb her poor aunt who was passing the night in their house.

Her parents had been gracious enough to keep their quibbles and fight till the poor lady who had come to pass the night after been released from the NYSC orientation camp, had taken dinner and retired for the night.

Thankfully also, they had been able to keep it under check when the inevitable happened, and as usual, Tamuna had excused herself as pain throbbed hard against her chest.

This was the reason Gen, her big sister and only sibling never came home from school, and it angered Tamuna that she couldn't simply disappear like Gen and stay away from all the bad energy, but more than that, it hurt her that her parents' marriage was crumbling with each passing day.

She was at Kathy's last weekend and it shocked her to no end at what she saw at her friend's house.

Her parents played and laughed like soul-knit twins, and Kathy and Kyle threw in spices every now and then, in fact Tamuna was thrown completely off balance, she had no idea families like that existed.

Oh! She knew of course, that not all couples fight like her parents do, but she  never knew any could be so closely-knit.

As Tamuna walked away from her parent's drama, knowing she wouldn't have to go through the pain of hearing them throw harsh words and comments at each other tonight, she heard what finally brought her world crumbling down its ears.

'I want out! I'm filing for a divorce!' Her mum said with grave calmness, and the whole house suddenly went silent!

Few seconds passed and her dad still hadn't found the perfect comeback. Tamuna was sure he was as rooted to his spot with shock, as she was to hers, but she apparently recovered before he did, and Tamuna was grateful for this. It meant she got to run into her room and shut the door on whatever her dad had to say, before he said it.

The tears came down harder and Tamuna's sobs became harder to muffle as she realised with startling shock that her worst fears were coming to be.

Her parents were filing for a divorce.

'God, where are you when I need you most?' Tamuna silently cried as her tears broke her voice in fragments.

'He's as close as your prayers and requests, if only you'll make them.'

Tamuna jerked up from her lying position in surprise! She'd thought her aunt was asleep, apparently she wasn't.

Wait! Had she heard her mum's declaration, too?

Tamuna wasn't even sure if it was something to be kept under wraps. The whole extended family would know anyway when the divorce was over, but Tamuna wondered what aunt Tricia meant with what she said.

Before she could ask though, aunt Tricia was right beside her, and Tamuna just balked harder as she asked,

'Tamuna, can I hug you?'

No one had ever asked her that, and no one had ever looked at her as if she really wanted to hug her because she needed it.

Aunt Tricia didn't even wait for her to reply before she pulled her into a warm and sweet embrace.

Tamuna cried harder than she'd ever done and allowed herself to truly lean on someone for the first time in forever, and it felt so good.

Aunt Tricia allowed her cry to her heart fill, and as wails turned to sobs and sobs to sniffs, Aunt Tricia released her, helping her dry off her tears afterwards.

Tamuna suddenly felt so vulnerable and open, and was beginning to regret her indulgence before Aunt Tricia whispered in the dim of the night.

'Hey! It's okay to cry, and it's even better to do so on a shoulder that cares, but you know the best place to let go of deepest pain and release your most pent up emotions?'

Curiosity overshadowed shame, and Tamuna asked.

'Where?'

'On the altar of prayers to God.' 

Tamuna didn't quite get it. She thought prayers to God were supposed to be formal, and He'd rather you are coherent and speak in clear tones, but she chose not to interrupt her aunt.

Aunty Tricia must have sensed her confusion however, because she went further to explain, and said,

'See, the Bible assures us that Christ, our High Priest is not untouched by the feelings of our infirmity.

'Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, when he was here on earth went through normal human emotions, he knew hurt, pain and disappointment.

'In fact, He cried!

'So, He knows your pain, and when you cry, He feels it. Your tears move Him to do things for you and He makes it His agenda to wipe away those tears permanently.'

This was new to Tamuna, but it gave her a whole lot of hope and she suddenly wanted to pray. As she was about to articulate that thought, Aunt Tricia asked.

'So, are you ready to pray?'

As she stretched out her hands towards Aunt Tricia, the latter reached out, took them in hers and said,

'Tamuna, Jacob in the Bible, at Jabbok, prayed one night, and encountered the angel that God used to turn his story around forever.

'Tammy, do not be afraid to express everything you feel to him! Let go of every of your burden and leave it at His feet.

'He can handle everything and more and He is able to give you anything and everything you date to ask for!

'Then, when you think you're done asking, go over and beyond and ask for more.

'God is God! He loves it when His children dare Him to do the humanly-impossible for them, because it is an attestation of your faith in His omnipotence. So, ask for everything and then more!

'Are you ready?!'

As aunt Tricia spoke, Tamuna's faith grew and her spirit was charged up within her and she completely ignored the fact that, aunt Tricia might not know what her exact problem was, as she let go of all her inhibitions and laid all her worries and problems at God's feet, from the beginning.

She cried out to God and expressed her deepest pain and revealed her scariest fears to Him. Then, she asked for help.

Tamuna didn't want her parents to get a divorce and she didn't want them to stay married as enemies either, she just wanted peace in her family and she asked for just that.

Whenever she had pause in between her words, Tamuna could hear Aunt Tricia warring with various Bible verses that she never even knew existed, and speaking in tongues intermittently.

As both ladies shook themselves and exerted their energy in passionate prayers, they were both soaked through in tears and sweat.

Then Tamuna remembered Aunt Tricia's words that she should dare to ask for more, so she banished the doubt in her heart, and hoped against hope  daring God to do the seemingly impossible, when she asked God to give her parents a marriage sweeter and happier than Kathy's parents had.

Tamuna's own words didn't sound real even to her ears, but she chose to dare God!

By the time they finished praying that night, Tamuna was exhausted, but it was worth the while. Aunt Tricia encouraged her to pray more and learn to unburden her heart in the place of prayers.

It turned out that, that night was the beginning of one of the best chapters in her life.

Tamuna knew deep within her that, something spectacular would happen and she slept with that thought deeply engraved in her heart.

Roughly one year later, as Tamuna and her parents organised a special dinner celebrating Aunt Tricia's passing out of the NYSC scheme, Tamuna remembered with startling clarity as her parents were dishing out couple goals left, right  and centre, that night when everything changed.

It really was a good night as any to pray!

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Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
Ephesians 3:20

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