prayer time

On Friday night, Amy and I were asked to pray for people after the service. We have had this experience before at churches here in India and have been shaped and changed my these times.  

Below is a post I wrote two years ago when I was here:

October 6, 2012

"more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of..."

"More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of." -Alfred Lord Tennyson 

One of the things that has humbled me the most here is that after some of our meetings at the churches, Amy and I have been asked to pray for many people with many different needs. (many kinds of sickness, needs for housing, the desire to have children...just to name a few.) I have felt inadequate at times as I wonder if they think we have some special gift in prayer since they have honored us as guests and since we have come from so far away. Even though I am the one who is being asked to step in, I know people who are far more experienced and gifted in prayer, and I think perhaps they might want to ask someone else. However, this is where I am called right now and so I simply say, "Here I am!" 

Let me just say that I have no delusions of grandeur here.   I know that I have no power in me to change anyone's situation.  I know that I am just an ordinary person.  But, I am a person who believes strongly and passionately in an extraordinary God. I do know where to go to ask for help and I do know where to run for mercy. 

I have heard it said that Christianity is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. This describes my understanding of praying for others as well. 

Joseph and Ratnakar have told me stories of people in their church who have been healed after months of going to pray for them. What an example of such trusting perseverance and of a commitment to being a part of God's healing in this world.    

9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:9-10

The pictures above were taken by Ratnakar's friend of me and Amy praying for a man on Thursday night. We walked into their hut and he was lying curled up on a cot. They told us that he was very sick and simply asked us to pray.  They thought he only had a few days left to live.  All I know is that we were both moved to tears and we just asked God to heal him and to make him whole.  No fancy words.  Just hearts broken by it all and humbled that we are given an invitation to ask God for what we need.  We got a message on Friday that he was walking around and eating again. Amazing grace...how sweet the sound.... 

We are encouraged to ask with persistent and open trust for what we need, and yet we know that sometimes our prayers go unanswered.  We struggle at times to find meaning in the midst of missed opportunities and unfulfilled hopes. But I am convinced that prayer is a part of the process of helping us dig deeper into our relationship with God and learning to run to Him no matter what the circumstances are.  

Giving thanks for the many lessons I am learning and for this place and these people that I am growing to love at the core.  

"I have said that the spiritual life has to do with how God relates to us and how we in turn relate to God. Prayer is the essential expression of this relationship.  Like the spiritual life itself, prayer is initiated by God. No matter what we think about the origins of our prayers, they are all a response to the hidden workings of the Spirit within." (Marjorie Thomson, Soul Space)

When I was praying for people last night, I was reminded of the powerful experiences we have had before that I described above. I was acutely aware that I had very little to offer here. I am a just a broken vessel just like everyone else and am trying to learn to let the light shine through the cracks.  I am a daughter in the family of God crying out for my fellow brothers and sisters.  And yet, I am a daughter of a King- and that where the power lies. We serve a King! And we can run to Him with everything.

So, as people lined up to ask for me and Amy to pray for them, I offered my feeble attempts to stand in the gap and to ask on behalf of these beautiful people for healing and for hope in places of brokenness.  I cannot seem to finish times like this without tears welling up in my eyes.  There is such need in this world.  Many of the people who came asked for healing from serious aches and pains in their bodies. And I know that the medical access that they have is very limited. They have nowhere else to turn but to cry out to God for help.  As someone who has experienced excellent medical care through the years, this was a sobering reality.   So, I asked for healing and for wholeness over and over.  Each time, I felt like I was holding the hand of someone who was desperately trying to touch the cloak of Jesus as it was her only hope.  What a privilege to be in these moments with these people and to run to God together hand in hand.   ‘Tis very sweet indeed….