Friday, January 29, 2010
Random [sic] Prayer
I had a terrible day @ work as far as material results...but one of the best spiritually. I stood on the stoop of Ruby's house. This sweet 82 year old lady told me that there was a Chaplin inside with her husband. He is dying with terminal liver cancer. We discussed her future. I took her hand...we prayed. I know how an angel feels. I thought about how cool it would be to walk and pray across America; randomly [sic] knocking on doors and asking people if I could pray for them. I know that I am getting to do that now, but the journey part would be cool too. Even cooler, assemble a team that would travel around doing such a ministry.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comments:
You know, brother, that is a great idea... because it's a no obligation, no glory kind of task. Knock on someone's door that doesn't know you, and you're likely to have the door slammed in your face, because they think you're selling something or taking a survey, or wanting to ask them a Jehovah Witness question.
But to knock and someone's door and ask them if they need prayer, and if the answer is yes, to pray for or with them, that would be different.
Our natural defense mechanism would click in very early, as we encountered people who needed more than prayer. Could we handle it? Could we deal with it?
Christians, they would say, need to do more than pray. They need to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, visit those in prison, raise the dead (oh, maybe leave that last one out, since our critics don't usually believe that raising the dead is a possibility).
The minute Christians expose themselves in public, by reading the scriptures aloud (as Brock and I do sometimes), or going door to door to ask if prayer is needed, almost immediately the "needy" appear, though not all, indeed very few, are actually needy.
We used to stop our reading and pray for people, and sometimes we gave material assistance. You probably remember some of our adventures as written up in our blogs. But even now, when we get asked for material help, if the Lord says No, we say No, and then suffer the consequences.
"Hypocrites! White-washed tombs!" one woman called out at us when we refused her emotional blackmail, as she walked away plugging her expensive walkman earphones back into her head.
God grant you His mercy and wisdom if you, when you, pray for others, as you did for this woman with her dying husband.
Yes, I know what it feels like to be an angel to someone, and how really modest is the cost to us, usually. But when the cost is high, it's still worth it, if God has sent you to them or them to you.
Thanks for this great post, brother!
Post a Comment