TASKS I love to
set myself: writing tasks. It is the fun of life for me. So, I have 28 minutes
in order to read some of The Only
Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life and to write down some
reflections.
Suffering, the Gateway,
Through Prayer, To Deeper Meaning
The “deeper meaning
of prayer becomes manifest” in suffering. Uniting ourselves with Jesus in our
suffering we unite ourselves to the one who suffered most and deserved it
least. What solace that is when we consider (falsely) that our suffering is
always more than what others have to bear and more than we deserve. But Jesus
is a friend more than any can be when we suffer, because he suffered most and
deserved it least. Jesus proves that bad things happen to good people. It’s
just the indiscriminate way life is. And going there with Jesus we find
something deep and ethereal about the experience. Prayer, in suffering, makes
for deeper meaning. Deeper meaning is implicitly worthwhile as we look back
afterward. Through suffering we view others’ suffering differently, with more
compassion, insight, and willingness to serve and help.
The Mystical Power of
Prayer in Healing Every Sorrow
“Prayer is
leading every sorrow to the source of all healing.” What a paradox the gospel
life is! When we are worst off we are best positioned to receive spiritual
healing beyond all comprehension.
Can we learn to trust
the voice of God when we go to him in prayer? We can only do such a thing if
our soul is quiet, and that will take practice. The Lord is gentle and humble
of heart (Matthew 11:28-30). He won’t force himself on anyone. The more
attentive we are, the more we screen out the entire world competing, the more
we will hear, and the more we will hone our sense for God’s Spiritual Presence.
Prayer in this
way is not often what we think it is. Prayer for healing is a silent exercise
of sitting, waiting on the Lord, and imagining what he is saying to us, by our
knowledge that he suffered great injustice. He knows what we are dealing with.
He, alone, can help. He, alone, helps as an exemplar of patience in distress,
hope in vanquishment, and in love, bearing, believing, hoping, and enduring.
***
Oh, did I reach
my goal of reflecting through this piece of writing in 28 minutes? No. I was
interrupted. But it was a God-interruption and I’m just fine with those types
of interruptions.
But, the key
point is this: we learn depth in our suffering and every sorrow can be healed
through soul-silent prayer.
Prayer through every sorrow,
In faith toward our healing,
Prayer heals what we are feeling,
We will be
better for tomorrow.
© 2015 Steve
Wickham.
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