March 16 2010

March 16 2010 Prayer before surgery day

Yesterday one of my former Sunday school kids "IM" me to tell me they are praying for me. How sweet! Then my own Sunday school teacher (from maybe 25-30 years ago)called me and my former youth group counselor brought me some soup. It was indeed a very sweet day!!

I wonder how my Sunday school kids would pray for me – to get better, to be brave…to get rid of the cancer, to be healed… Now how did I teach them to pray? Not sure if I did alright. : ) I know I would want them to express themselves spontaneously and truthfully to their Heavenly Father. I like them to pray expectantly, that God will answer. The most challenging is to help them understand God’s responses, beyond the simple “yes” “no” and “wait”.

Many years ago, someone dear to me was comatose after a car accident. We prayed fervently for the person to wake up from the coma. One message from fellow believers was that if we had faith, God would heal. This had become my stumbling block for a long time as the person had remained in the so-called “vegetable” state. The diagnosis of cancer brought me fresh memories of that incident. In fact I cried over the disappointment from last time. I tried to gather my thoughts and asked myself what I had learned throughout these years and what my prayer should be in my own crisis.

1. First, complete recovery doesn’t guarantee the person would lead a good life afterwards. For example Hezekiah cried on his death bed and God gave him additional years plus a miracle against nature as a sign. The King of Babylon brought him a gift because of this illness and he did something foolish to invite turmoil in the years to come. (Read 1 King 20 to find out what happened).

2. Second, Jesus healed many on earth. His healing miracles are very varied - some including forgiveness, some involving touch and others simply from a distance. Sometimes the individual’s faith (woman with blood disease) was acknowledged; sometimes the requester’s faith seems to be the key (friends of the paralytic man, the Canaanite woman ready to take crumbs from the table for her daughter). Other times, it was simply based on Jesus’ compassion (e.g. the widow’s son who died). It is important to note that He helped those struggling to believe as well (Mark 9:24 & Luke 8:50).

3. Third, while we all bring our requests to God, Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane should supersede all prayers – a prayer that seeks the fulfillment of God’s will in His life, and not His own will.

My prayer I think prayer deep from within requires us to be naked before God. You are who you are and you bring your earnest request to God. I do pray for complete healing – mind, body and spirit. I pray for forgiveness of sins and the Lord’s cleansing and healing. I also pray that I can accept His sovereign will with faith, hope and love; especially when His healing path is different from what I would want. Lastly, I do pray for a renewed life – that I may be changed, that I may be able to live differently and hold onto to His love.

Thank you for all your prayers.