I have a special friend here at the microphone, and I can’t wait for you to meet her. Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and my friend Bunny Warlen is at the microphone. Hi, Bun!
Bunny: Hi, Joni. It’s wonderful to be here with you.
Joni: Always good to be with you. And as I often introduce you to others I’ll say, “Bunny is my prayer mentor." We met back in 1989 in Manila in the Philippines at the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization when you were on a 24-hour prayer watch, and I love listening to you pray. Bunny, when you pray, you’re talking to God.
Bunny: I am, Joni.
Joni: And I love it when we’re driving down the road together, and just the other day we were driving down Mulholland Highway, and there you are praying for the neighbors. I mean, down streets – I don’t know those people who live in those houses, but you’re praying for them. What are you thinking of when you’re praying for people that you don’t even know?
Bunny: That they might not have anybody to pray for them; that their hearts may be hurting as we drive down the street and that there we are caring about them and speaking to the Father about their lives. And it makes a difference, Joni.
Joni: It does! I remember when we were in Germany together, Bunny. You and I were driving down the Autobahn. We were in the back of a van; cars were speeding by us going 90 miles an hour. We were praying for them, weren’t we?
Bunny: Yes, we were!
Joni: And leaving a blessing over the land.
Bunny: Yes, we were. We prayed our way around Berlin and right after the wall had come down a nation needed prayer. It needed to be knit together at the place of prayer.
Joni: You love praying for the nations, don’t you?
Bunny: I do.
Joni: What motivates you? What inspires you?
Bunny: Well, I love my maps, and I would love to lay my hands and cover a nation with my hand and pray knowing that Father hears our prayers – especially the prayers of the little children – so I come as a child to pray a childlike faith prayer for those that are in that nation.
Joni: Now I remember when you were a child you had a story about a certain tree…
Bunny: Yes, my Chinaberry tree.
Joni: Tell us that.
Bunny: In Shreveport, Texas, I had a tree just outside the fence that my parents would let me go by myself, climb up in this tree, and I had a book with the seven continents of the world. And I would sing Jesus Loves Me to the continents of the world. It just thrilled my heart. I would “sail” in my tree, and I would go everywhere in prayer. And really as I grew up the Lord took me to many of those places that I had prayed for.
Joni: He has. You have been to Katmandu and prayed at one of the highest points on earth and also the lowest point on earth. Which is what, the Dead Sea?
Bunny: The Dead Sea.
Joni: And northernmost parts of the world and even the southernmost tip of – where were you?
Bunny: Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, the bottom of Argentina where the waters of the seven seas come together.
Joni: Covering the earth north, south, east, west, high and low points – covering it in prayer. Bunny, if you were to put your finger on the pulse of what needs prayer most, what would you say right now?
Bunny: I really believe the children of our world. They are the future leaders; they’re our heartbeats, and they are the ones that are so wounded and offended by life itself. They’re abused and they’re neglected and they’re not listened to. And if we as adults will pray and turn our hearts toward the children and love them and lift them up to Father, I believe they’re our hope of tomorrow so that the hope of glory could live in their hearts.
Joni: You know, I know you believe that because when I see you around little boys and girls, they gravitate to “Mama Bunny.” They just love being around you Bunny, and it is obvious that you love them, not only when you pray for them, but when you’re in their presence.
Bunny: I love ’em, Joni.
Joni: Bunny, I just love you, too. Thank you so much for praying me through so many tough times and for praying for my husband as you always do.
Bunny: I love you both!
Joni: And you too! And friend, I hope this inspires you to keep praying for the nations. And if you need a few things to pray about, visit our Wheels for the World page at joniradio.org.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
© Joni and Friends