I had a root canal last week. The young dental assistant had a baby the month before we did. When I arrived at 8am she shared that her three year old had been up until 4:00 and once he fell asleep, the baby woke up. She had been awake twenty eight hours straight at that point and was not feeling well. Between my baby and my tooth ache, I had recently endured a similar stretch of sleeplessness, so empathy was easy at that point.
The dental process took about two hours and about half way through the dentist left to see another patient. I asked the assistant how she was feeling. She was feeling worse, so I said, "Let me pray for you." reaching out my hand I expected her to take it, instead she bent her head over, so I put my hands on her head and prayed the Father's presence and healing power through Jesus. It was one of those moments...
I tried not to think about the fact that I was hooked up to laughing gas, sitting in a dentist chair, as I did this. It was a bit 'unusual,' even for me. It was also a blessing. I have often said that the easiest way to introduce God into any situation is to ask someone "how can I pray for you?" There is a gift to prayer that impacts people more positively than being preached at.
I have shared before that sometimes when I drive or am in the grocery, I just look around and pray for the people I see. I pray for all manner of things, usually for healing, strength and faith. I think if we are living in a world at war (spiritually) then that sort of thing is vital to the effort. Too often Christians are settled in and accepting of the status quo. What if prayer is one of our weapons and the means through which God has chosen to enter the world most effectively? Well, then we need to pray more. If not, why did Jesus tell us to pray so much?
What a privilege it is to pray for others.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite quotes is about prayer ... "You can do more than pray after you have prayed. But you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed."