Thursday of the First Week of Lent
March 17, 2011
To see the readings, click here:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031711.shtml
"If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him." I just love that line. The first part is very uplifting, too, but at the same time it can be confusing. It has not always felt like my experience that when I ask, I shall receive. I mean, I accept the whole idea that I receive in God's time, not mine, and that He knows what is best for me better than I do. I'm just saying that on the surface, that line raises questions. The one I pasted in here though, is thoroughly believable and consistent with what I experience. God does give us very, very good things, even though sometimes they are different than the ones we ask Him for.
In one of those odd coincidences where you can feel the hand of God, just before I sat down to write this I checked Facebook. There one of Bob's cousins had a posting about her sister, who has suffered from cystic fibrosis for her whole life and now is badly in need of a lung transplant. Her posting was just a prayer that God would provide the needed new lungs ASAP. There have been just oodles of posts in response, all just adding their prayers to hers. Obviously it's too soon to know whether we will see those new lungs appear shortly, but seeing all those people united in that one prayer sure was impactful. I don't know if God will deliver the lungs in time to save Kristi, but I have to believe that those prayers will move Him in some way.
And speaking of moving and the power of prayer, today my friend Renee posted the story of Delaney's 15th birthday celebration, that was held on Sunday. (Delaney is the friend I mentioned earlier, who is in the final stages of brain cancer.) They used the Hispanic model of the Quincenera, a religious celebration marking the young woman's growth into a Christian woman. She said that about 250 people came in person, but that the prayers of the many who could not be there were almost tangible. She said there was such a spirit of peace in the room. And now that the Quincenera is behind her, Delaney is at peace and ready for whatever comes next. I believe that when that final step comes, she will go accompanied by the prayers of all those who were present in person and in prayer on Sunday.
This is sort of far afield from the lessons, but my experience has been that prayer is always valuable in that even when we don't receive what we asked for, even when we don't change God with our prayers, the act of prayer changes us. When I pray for someone I am angry with, I find that I have forgiven them while I wasn't looking. When I pray for something I want, sometimes I come to the realization that I don't really need it. When I pray for others who are suffering, I become aware of how blessed I am. Probably the MOST valuable part of prayer is how God uses it to change me.
Father, I thank you for the power of prayer. I thank you for your willingness to hear us, and your willingness to change us. Tonight I pray in a special way for Kristi to get her lung transplant, and for your Spirit to carry Delaney on her final journey. Please be with all those who need your help with their health, and with all those who are sharing this Lenten journey. Help us all to be faithful in our prayer life and to listen to your voice. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
