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ARE PROBABLY FAMILIAR with Jesus' parable of the
unscrupulous judge and the importunate widow.
There was a judge in a certain town
who had neither fear of God nor respect for man; and
there was a widow in that same town who kept pestering him
to give her justice against her enemy. The judge refused for
a long time, but he eventually changed his mind because he
feared that she would persist in
coming and worry him to death.[1]
 Her
persistence won the day for her.
"Now
will not God see justice done to his chosen [you and I
are his chosen] who cry to him day and night even when
he delays to help them? I promise you, he will see justice
done to them, and done speedily."[2]
These words are not mine; they are the words of Jesus
commenting on the parable of the judge and the widow.
It
often seems that God delays in answering our prayers. When
that happens to me, I think of it as a call to surrender the
intention fully to God, and to trust him more for that
situation. Usually this occurs when I have a particular
response in mind as I pray, so God delays in answering my
prayer. As I do surrender and move into trust, he comes
through with a solution which is much better than mine.
Prayer
derives power from our persistence. The more we pray, the
closer we come to God and the more in-tune we become with
his perfect will. As we put ourselves into his will through
prayer he will see justice done, and done speedily.
Vickie
is an intercessor who lives in our community: she prays to
our Lord and intercedes for numerous intentions every week.
Vickie has been doing this for many years and her prayers
are very close to the heart of God. When she prays, she
brings the power of the cross into the lives of those for
whom she is praying. When she intercedes for people she is
giving God permission to move in their lives -- even if they
do not believe in God or do not themselves pray. Being a
conduit of God's love and mercy brings great joy into
Vickie's life -- the joy of the Resurrection!
Vickie
readily admits that she can pray for something only if God
is in it; that is to say, it must be in God's will. In her
heart, she likes to see things the way God sees them. She
also says that guardian angels can warn us of problems and
ask us to intercede for someone in a particular situation.
After asking her about this, she related an incident from
some time ago involving her husband, Colin.
On
a particular occasion, Colin was out with the car doing some
errands. Suddenly, Vickie was inspired to pray for Colin
that he might find a fire extinguisher; and so she prayed. When Colin
arrived home a short time later, he was rather shaken. After
one of his stops, he returned to their car and got in;
however, as he was putting the key into the ignition he
thought he smelt something burning so he got out of the car
to look. His fuel tank was on fire! He ran into the store to
get some help and there was a fire extinguisher right beside
the door. He used it to put the fire out before there was an
explosion. Praise God for guardian angels and a prayerful
wife!
As
much as Vickie always experiences great joy when she prays
for people, she told me that some folks have the gift of
suffering in prayer. When she said this, I immediately
thought of Gary, another intercessor in our Community.
Gary's
special gift of intercession is helping others to bear their
crosses -- a very wonderful gift, indeed. Unlike Vickie who
is instinctively aware of her gift for intercession, Gary
prays for people only because his close friends recognized
his gift and told him about it. He said, "Praying and
interceding for others is a step of blind faith for me," and
he believes that when he prays for others, he gives them
hope.
Gary
sees his suffering for others only in hindsight. He says
that now and then things will be very challenging for him at
his place of work, and that it gets tougher each day as the
week progresses. When this happens, he feels completely
exhausted and worn out by week's end and he really does not
feel like going to the prayer meeting on Friday night.
However, being the good sinner that he is, he disciplines
himself and comes to the prayer meeting. At the end of the
prayer meeting, he ends up praying one-on-one with those who
have special needs. During these moments of praying, he
feels the burdens of the week lifted from him; it is as if
he has spent the week being Simon of Cyrene for each
person.
"I
consider it a great privilege to pray with individuals," he
said, "and God has given me a real reverence for the people
who come to me for prayers." He also emphasized that the
action of his prayers does not depend on his feelings;
rather it depends on his "yes" to God in the same way that
the Incarnation depended on Mary's "yes" when she responded
to the Archangel Gabriel: "I am the
handmaid of the Lord; let what you have said be done to
me."[3]
Gary's
wife, Cecile, is also an intercessor. Her particular gift is
carrying people in her heart until she sees an answer: then
she praises God. If she sees only a partial answer, she
thanks and praises God for it. Then she persists in her
prayer and continues to carry that person in her heart.
Cecile says that faith is the key for her -- she is always
looking for Christ in the situation.
What
is Cecile's consolation when she prays? Her cross stands up
by itself as she is interceding for others. Cecile does not
need to be continuously worried that she has dropped her
cross when she is carrying people in her heart.
Isn't
that also our call and our challenge? We tend to be
naturally afraid of the cross because of the pain associated
with it; yet it always brings joy when we embrace it, even
in the midst of pain and suffering. Let us therefore always
and persistently pray ourselves into the centre of the
cross, into the centre of God's will. Let us really mean it
when we pray Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.[4] God
bless you.
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