Sowing In: A Faith-Based Prison Reflection.
I always knew that words carried weight, but once I was in prison it became more than just an idea—it was the culture. You never spoke bad outcomes into existence. If someone had a parole board hearing coming up, you would never say, “You won’t get a flop, but if you do it will be fine. Most flops are less than a year.” You’d get yelled at for even suggesting it. That’s how serious it was. The culture was to keep your mouth shut about failure and lean hard into the possibility of success.
This vibe.
Out of that culture grew a practice: sowing into others what you hoped for yourself. I prayed for women trying to get into programs, those with upcoming appeals, and those waiting for important visits. I prayed for the people going before the parole board—especially when my own turn was coming—and for those going home, especially when it was finally my turn to leave. I prayed with everything I had for my ex-husband and my children. My prayers for other people’s children and family members were the most reverent—almost desperate—because deep down I longed for my own children and loved ones to be covered in prayer. If their struggles mirrored mine, it felt like God was giving me the opportunity to intercede for my family through them. Looking back, you could line up my prayers with my prison years and see what I was facing—hoping for a mentorship, a move to a better unit, or a job—reflected in the prayers I offered for others.
The theology of this practice is complicated. Prayer doesn’t work like a bargain, and God isn’t manipulated into blessing me just because I prayed for someone else first. Faith doesn’t work like superstition. Still, something in the practice reshaped me. It pulled me out of self-pity and taught me to look outward, to want good things for others even while I was waiting for my own breakthrough. If God honored those prayers, it wasn’t because I had the formula right, but because I was learning to care about more than just myself.
Scripture speaks directly to this tension. Paul reminds us, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (Galatians 6:7). At the same time, we are told, “Let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6) and “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). These verses point us away from superstition and toward trust: God hears because He is faithful, not because we’ve stacked up enough prayers in the right order. Jesus Himself warned against turning prayer into a formula, saying, “When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words.” (Matthew 6:7).
Prayer. Also Pray-er
The heart of prayer is not bargaining but relationship. Intercession is a holy calling—we lift others before God because Christ intercedes for us (Romans 8:34). So while my practice inside prison was imperfect, the impulse to pray for others pointed me toward something true: prayer reshapes us, and God in His mercy works through even our flawed understanding to draw us closer to Him. And His grace means we often reap more good than we deserve, because the harvest of His love is greater than the seeds we plant.
Thank you for reading.
