Pray For Trey

Last Fall a football player at our local high school was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I shared some reflections on it then. "Pray for Trey" was seen all over Collierville. Local churches, including my own, placed his name on prayer lists. Various prayer groups here and all over interceded. Locally, one rarely went anywhere without seeing some young person, or adult, wearing a 'pray for Trey" tee shirt. This was one of the most public declarations of faith I have ever seen. It is, therefore, something with which a thinking Christian must deal.

The tragedy of any young person dying, at least in our culture, is hard to fathom. In other times and places such deaths were less rare. Life was even more fragile and tenuous. But we do not live then or there. We live here and now. And we are confronted with the loss. When I heard this week that he had died, my first thought was those words: Pray for Trey

How is it so many prayed so much 'to no avail'? The first temptation is to see how the hand of God did work throughout this time. I am not privy to that. I was no family friend and I was not connected to anything that took place, aside from being a citizen of this town where it all took place. This young man's faith was widely reported and his witness heard by many. That may be the most important fact. Even so, how are Christians to understand the other fact; that the prayers for healing were not heard. It does not sit easily with Biblical texts which promise that we will have the power over illness and demons. It does not sit easily with the Biblical promises that the combined prayers of believers will be heard.

The Bible story which did come to mind was the story of King David. He fasted and prayed for God's mercy on his infant son. When the child died, he broke with tradition and did not go into mourning, much to the shock of his court. His response was, I prayed, God refused, I will live with it. There is a great depth of real faith there.

I have made clear in previous posts that I believe God is to be trusted. I have also made clear that I think He knows best. This is not what I wrestle with here. Rather, it is the idea of intercession and efficacy. How is one to understand such things in the face of so many praying for so long? It is not a crisis of faith, it is a challenge to understand the ways of God. It is a challenge to speak the truth.

Long ago I realized death has the penultimate word. It places its stamp on all of us. There is no escape. Even Jesus endured it (with Enoch, Elijah, and the Blessed Virgin being notable exceptions?). Yet death is not the last word. It is the second to the last. It is the word uttered just before Resurrection. Resurrection is the last word, and the beginning of a new life.

But I find myself pondering how then should we pray? What is it we should be saying to God. I wrote extensively on the subject recently. Nothing has changed. I still think thanks and praise are the preferred option. I still think listening trumps talking. And I still think we should pray for miracles. But expectations must be tempered by reality, inspite of what many popular authors might say.

I also know it is a big mystery and we do well to speak humbly about what God can and will do. Pop Christianity is sometimes too glib. Lord knows I have suffered from that malady from time to time. The reality of prayer, suffering and death are the sort of thing real Christians need to deal with. Honestly. My prayers for his family and all those who suffer the loss  have been made. I also pray for those whose faith is shaken by the "unanswered prayer" and those in need of understanding. And I pray for those too ready with simplistic answers who ignore the nuances demanded by the real God in the midst of the real world.