There are Christians out there who pray without ceasing — quite literally. They pray in the back of their mind when they’re preaching, when they’re eating, when they’re talking with their friends, when they’re telling their kids to do their homework. Prayer, for them, is as natural and as beneficial as breathing.
I, alas, am not one of those people. And I doubt I’m alone. Real prayer, for some of us, falls in the area of going to the gym: We know we should, we know it’s good for us, and we know we’d feel better if we did. But it takes time and energy, and it’s sometimes just easier to fall on the couch and watch The Office.
Matthew Cordell of Queen Creek, Ariz., understands the power of prayer. Moreover, he knows that most folks probably don’t pray enough. And so he set up a prayer station, right on the highway: “Prayer Stand, Drive-Thru,” his sign reads.
ABC News posted a story about Cordell and his prayer stand on its Web site. A disabled veteran, he mans the stand himself, aided only by his Chihuahua, Skye. He prays with people when they’re hurting and happy. In fact, he’ll pray with them for any reason at all.
“One day, I drove by an orange stand on the road and I felt God telling me to open up a prayer stand,” Cordell told ABC. “I thought it was a crazy idea, but it’s God’s idea, so I decided to try it.”
He has no idea how many folks have stopped by the stand since he started it this August, but he acknowledges that sometimes he’s received enough business to slow down traffic on the two-lane highway it sits beside. Isabella Crowe is one of those who’s stopped by for a quick bit of prayer.
“The metaphor of a prayer drive-through really symbolizes how fast-paced our world is and that sometimes we just don’t stop,” she told ABC. “It’s convenient and it’s nice. By setting up a drive-through, you’re saying, ‘Two seconds — give God that much time.”
It’s a sad commentary that some of us need a drive-through prayer stand to remember to pray. But I’m glad Cordell sacrifices his time and energy on the side of that Arizona road. Those who stop don’t just appreciate him: They need him.


















