“Is there anything I can do for you other than praying?”
I can’t count the number of times I’ve spoken that, emailed that, thought that. I want something tangible. I want to do something that brings forth immediate results that can be seen and counted and tracked. I want to clean your house while you’re away, so we can all appreciate the difference. I want to bake you something while you’re sick so you can rest more. I want to babysit your children while you spend time with your spouse. I want to give you money (if only I had much to give!) to send you to that treatment center. I “know” I am “helping” when I am busy in your life.
But what about the trials that I can’t be involved in? Times when you are going through deep spiritual turmoil or despair. Times when you are traveling every weekend to care for your dying mother. Times when you and your spouse aren’t speaking, aren’t touching, aren’t liking each other. I can’t fix that in a noticeable way. And OH how that frustrates me!
But I’m so wrong. What should frustrate me is how I can’t spend more than ten minutes in intensely focused prayer.
My desire to see the tangible outpouring of my love doesn’t understand that prayer is bigger than cleaning and babysitting.
Let me set one thing straight: I don’t believe in the power of prayer. My feeble words, thrown at the sky, hold no power. They are mere words, just as this sentence. But the One who hears my prayers, now THERE is power! God has the ability to move in any way, shape, and form, and He loves to act in ways that benefit us and bring glory to His name.
Don’t get me wrong, babysitting and cleaning and helping are necessary and beautiful acts of service that can be tangible expressions of Christ’s love. It becomes a problem when I depend on those things to fix everything and to make me feel good, and in turn they leave Christ out of the equation.
There is not anything that can be done other than praying. What would my life look like, and the lives of those I’m praying for look like, if prayer was always my immediate response to any trial? Instead of saying, “I wish I could help”, DO the thing that helps the most! Prayer is not a last resort. Prayer is the means that the King of the universe uses to change hearts and lives. Prayer > babysitting? Tis true.
And when I doubt this, like I do anytime a dear one is suffering, I must remember. I remember the times others have prayed for me in person, or have let me know that they are praying for me (and not in the trite way when saying “I’ll pray for you” equals “sorry for your situation but I don’t know what else to say”). How those prayers were a refreshment to my soul, a breath of fresh air to my heart. I remember the times I have emailed specific prayers to friends and they say, “how did you know?” Can you imagine what beauty there would be if we all took the time to pray real prayers, write them down, and send them to the person we are praying for? Can you feel their joy as they can return to those words time and time again?
Prayer is not a last resort. Prayer is not something to do only when there is nothing else I can do. Prayer is grabbing your friend’s arm and holding onto the life-line of Jesus saying “You will not drown. I will hold on to faith for you.”
Let’s be people of whom it can be said, “Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.” (Philemon 1:7).
Gentle Sunshine 