Do You Find Intercessory Prayer Easy?
Good Morning Friends,
Prayers for healing the sick was deemed a vital function of the early Christian Church. But this is not something of the past alone. The problem today is that we do not take it seriously. Too often we turn prayer into a tradition of shallow words that lose their meaning. It is all about making us feel good. And joy is great but real prayer is more often agony of both the mind and body. Praying for a young child with a deadly illness is perhaps the most difficult for, often as not, this entails grieving what might have been. It is not easy to mature in this kind of prayer. Really, Do You Find Intercessory Prayer Easy?
Scripture: In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.
Luke 22:44 (NRSV)
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Hebrews 5:7 (NRSV)
Nevertheless I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me with honor. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalms 73:23-26 (NRSV)
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits—who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalms 103:2-5 (NRSV)
And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5 (NRSV)
Message: Just hours before his death Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane in turmoil and utter agony shedding his blood by the sweat of his brow and praying. And it reminds me of the reality that Jesus redeemed the events of another garden… the Garden of Eden when Adam was sentenced to work by the sweat of his brow. Still sometimes we must work through suffering in our prayers as well.
Friends, prayer, even if we understand it, is difficult to do. The more we pray the better we get at it but becoming mature in prayer is not easy. We are trained in our culture to avoid discomfort at all costs and deep levels of intercessory prayer can be very painful. People need healing and help and hope that is so extensive. That is why so few have the heart to grieve for others in this way. Christians typically offer the shallowest levels of prayer, but sometimes God wants to take us into the deep levels of intercessory prayer that only a few ever experience. Too few have the empathy and the sensitivity to experience the brokenness of the world in a deep and prolonged way. It is just too painful. We long for a powerful and joyful Spirit not just in our lives but also in our places of worship and work. But there is no Pentecost in these places without a Gethsemane and a cross. I have found for me that the very time I do not feel like praying is precisely the time I ought to pray. There are no shortcuts and no substitute. Paul addresses this issue of suffering for others in today’s scripture from Romans. You see there are no books to read, classes to attend, or inspirational videos to watch. Reading the Bible is fine but sometimes one just has to pray through the situation and suffer through the situation on one’s knees. One breath at a time. That is when I will pray the Psalms. Sometimes one has to let go and just believe that God knows best. Sometimes people have nowhere else to turn but to the agony of prayer. Still having said that I believe in spiritual healing and in my heart I believe in the therapy of faith and I believe in the therapy of prayer and the laying on of hands. Somewhere here The Great Physician will impart inspiration and affection to make us whole again even if it is on the other side of the veil. So pray as if you are with Jesus in the Garden and know that he sweat blood. But know also that Jesus took on the weight of the world so that you and I would not have to bear too great a burden.
Pray we accept God’s invitation to pray for others. Pray we stay awake praying with Jesus. Pray we stay focused. Pray we never stop praying. Pray we not allow ourselves to become satisfied with shallow, self-centered praying. Pray we stay with God in prayer until He leads us where we need to be. Pray that when we face despair that God keeps us strong and eventually brings us comfort, mercy, grace, peace and a love that surpasses our understanding. Pray that even in the darkest of days our God would continue to bless us with hope.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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