An invitation from an old lady

As a young man, I met an elderly lady who was in my church. Her name was Agnes Whiteford. She was a widow and a very godly lady.

I was new to the church, and had never been to a prayer meeting. In fact I had no idea what prayer meetings were. Every Sunday I heard he prayer meeting announced from the pulpit. I wondered what such a meeting would be like. I was curious to go, but needed an excuse to go. I did not feel that I could just turn up.

One day, I was going into church and Agnes Whiteford and one of her friends was in front of me. She turned and spoke to me. She invited me to the prayer meeting. This was the excuse I needed. I thought, “That old woman has invited me, so now, I can go”. The meeting was in the manse. It was more like a midweek meeting as there was teaching from the bible, followed by prayer. I had not experienced anything like it before. I had heard formal public prayer before, but not individuals corporately praying together like this. After a few weeks, I decided to have a go at it myself. I kept attending the prayer meeting and such meetings have become a fundamental part of my life and Agnes Whiteford had no idea how God used her that day she invited me to the meeting to get me started.