I'm ready for that prayer now
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
James 5:16 NIV
I truly believe that many of us can become troubled with God because He does not answer prayers the way we want Him to. We quote the Bible verses and we believe that God will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalms 20:4). And when He doesn't meet our expectations, we can become disillusioned. At least, that is what happened to me when I felt God had "let me down". I stopped praying, stopped trusting and I stopped seeking God. I was in such a state that while speaking to my wife I resorted to unflattering expletives to explain my feelings about God and His performance. When a friend at work asked me if she could pray for me, I told her, "No! What's the point of prayer if God has already decided what He is going to do?" When she asked me a second time I told her, "Absolutely not!"
I decided to review a few verses, trying to decipher why God answers one way or the other. And as God is my witness, I suddenly feel into a deep sleep. I could feel myself wrestling with the questions and doubts. Sort of like Jacob, wrestling with God and holding on for a blessing (Genesis 32:22-32). When I awoke, I realized that my “investigation” into God’s way of answering prayer was wrong. The line of reasoning I was on was less about trusting and seeking God and more about justifying my anger. I went to my friend, head held low and told her, "I'm ready for that prayer now". Suzy responded like a nine year old on Christmas morning. Her squeals of delight were almost embarrassing.
I confessed my sin… Suzy and my friend Ann prayed for me. And The Lord almost immediately began healing me from stubbornness and a hardened heart. I feel a bit embarrassed. A big fella like me should not have to struggle over such things. I should be able to pray for my own healing. But there in lies the point of today’s verse. We are not designed to walk the path of faith alone. God’s design is that we walk this path with prayer, honesty, integrity, with the word of God and with others. We are meant to confess, pray for each other and ultimately, to be healed.
To my own admittance, I have been in the place of motionless quandary too many times. I am thankful that for me it is a process of my finding God in my circumstances. Thanks for the reminder, my brother.
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