A number of states have promoted “Start Seeing Motorcycles” campaigns in an effort to reduce motorcycle fatalities. Perhaps you’ve seen some of the bumper stickers or even have one on your car. The campaign seeks to foster increased alertness to vehicles that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Not too long ago I was hit with a different kind of awareness campaign.

It started innocently enough on a quick trip to my local Walmart store to pick up something for a home repair project. Normally, I would have rushed in for what I needed and gotten out of there as quickly as possible. This visit was different.

Upon entering the store, the Spirit prompted me to pray silently for everyone I saw. That exercise awakened me. Slowing down to pray for them made me more aware of how much I would have missed had I gone about my normal business. I would have missed seeing the bored elderly man accompanying his wife as she shopped. “I’ve been there, Lord. Give him joy in the suffering!” I would have missed the employee replenishing empty shelves with cans encased in towers of boxes beside him. “Lord, enrich his shelf from your storehouse of blessing.” And, I would have missed the joy I felt from praying for the mom standing in front of me at the checkout line, exasperated as her two small children incessantly cried for the candy they attempted to snatch from nearby shelves. “Lord, give this woman your grace and peace. May her children grow to know and love You.”

Only God knows what effect those prayers may have had on their lives, but I know what effect they had on me. An errand to repair my house became God’s errand to repair me. Smacked right on my heart was His bumper sticker: “Start Seeing People.”

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.” – 2 Corinthians 5:16

Adopt the “Start Seeing People” campaign by visiting a public setting in an attitude of prayer. Report back your results here.