A mother’s prayer go a long way . . .

The Como Mamas—the gospel trio of Ester Mae Wilbourn, Angelia Taylor, and Della Daniels, from Como, Mississippi—will release Move Upstairs with Daptone Records on May 19. The Mamas are backed by the Glorifiers Band—led by Bosco Mann, longtime collaborator of the late Sharon Jones—resulting in an uplifting album of funk-forward spirituals. (The Como Mamas are also supported by the North Carolina-based Music Maker Relief Foundation, an organization many Oxford American readers will be familiar with.)

Below, the Mamas share a new song, “Count Your Blessings,” and Wilbourn, a celebrated minister in Panola County, offers a Mother’s Day prayer. 

Mom was there all the time!
When you were whining,
When you were upset.
At night, when you couldn’t sleep,
She’d come in and pray with you.
She’d come in and maybe read you a word.
She’d come in and sing you a song.

Jesus loves me,
this I know
for the bible tells me so
Little ones are here below
They are weak
But He is strong

She always looked out to make sure we had clothes to wear.
My mom used to make mine, mine and my sister’s.
We didn’t have money to go to town and buy material like we do now.
She would take the sack from the flour, when they buy the flour in the sack,
She would take that sack and there would be pretty prints.
She would wash that and she would cut this and sow the material
And make me and my sister little dresses.
You can just go to the store now and purchase what you want.
Back then, it wasn’t that comfortable, but
Mother always made sure that she gave us the best that she could.
She was always there.

Mother was firm.
She was firm,
She was loving,
She was kind,
But she was firm.

Mothers love us when we’re in trouble.
Mothers love us when we’re not in trouble.

A mother has to pray all the time!
When they are young,
When they get to be teenagers,
Even when they get to be elders,
Mother still prays for her child,
That he or she will be protected
And be the person that God wants her to be in her life,
And have all of the wonderful things
That He has here for each and every one of us.

So, a mother’s prayer go a long way.

Your mother is your friend,
She’ll go with you until the end.
There is no other on earth like her, 
You will find.

When children go astray,
Mother, she’ll pray
Both night and day.

A mother loves her children
All the time.

A mother’s prayer will get through,
Because she has a bond with that child
Before the child was born.
The closeness that they have from the birth
Give her a real close connection that she can feel
When something is wrong with her children.

So, a mother’s prayer go a long way.

Go tell your mother, if you haven’t told her, that you love her.
Go tell her that you love her, because mother is really a special, special woman,
And she will never be forgotten.

On Mother’s Day, you wear the white bouquet to represent she is gone,
You wear the red bouquet to let the world know that your mother is still here.
We pray that all mothers will continue to be strong in the Lord,
And continue to pray for the children and for the whole universe.

—Ester Mae Wilbourn
Como, Mississippi

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