He shook his head at my question, one of those head shakes of someone who is disappointed -- annoyed maybe is a better word. He didn't like the question. He was a guy in his 40s, a blue-collar man wearing new jeans and a sweatshirt. He had just bought two packs of cigarettes and was cleaning out the ash tray of his Chevy truck when I stopped him.
I stared at his mustache while I asked, the evening sun shining in my eyes. That's when he shook his head. He got real busy then. The put the ash tray back, and he said, "Well, you can pray for me. Go ahead." But he wasn't facing me.
"I would like to pray for you right now," I said. That head shake came back. But something else was there, too. I'm not sure what it was, but he didn't turn me down. He didn't want to tell me no. He didn't want to reject the offer. Would he accept it outright? No. But he wasn't going to say no. "You can do what ever you want," he said, pausing. "I could always use prayer. ... You can do whatever you want."
I took that as my invitation. So while he was pulling the gas handle out of his truck, I prayed for God's blessing on that man, in whatever situation God had placed him. The sun still was in my eyes when I thanked him. He thanked me back.
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