The Gospel According to Matt

About half an hour ago I finished my manuscript for Sunday’s sermon.  It’s a sermon on prayer from James 5:13-16.  It’s a “when to pray” and “how to pray” message that seems to indicate that knowing when to pray and how to pray will help you become a prayer warrior–something I would love to be!

Mom was a real prayer warrior.  She wasn’t perfect (far from it actually).  She fought any number of personal demons.  She loved talking theology (but generally didn’t know what she was talking about; but she had true faith “like a child” as Jesus said–much more pure than my own).  But her prayers worked–they didn’t just “bounce off the ceiling” as so many seem to do.  She was a prayer warrior.

When she was diagnosed with cancer 10 years ago she prayed, “God grant me enough time to raise all of my Children.”  At the time my youngest brothers were still early in High School.  I remember innocently chastising her for her prayer saying, “You should be praying for God’s will,” not for longer life (although I was fervently praying for her health/healing as well).  She stubbornly continued in her prayer, asking God for enough time to raise her children.  And God gave her exactly what she prayed for, another 10 years of life, enough to see the Youngest finish college–and then she was gone as the cancer returned with a vengeance.

Sometimes I wonder why she wasn’t healed a second time.  But then again, every single person Jesus healed during his ministry eventually passed away.  Even those he brought back from death, like Lazarus, faced death once again.

Sometimes I pray and God says “no.”  Sometimes I pray and God says “yes.”  Sometimes I pray and God says, “patience.”  But mostly, i think, when we pray, God says, “Just trust me.”  And for me, that’s what prayer does, it reinforces my trust in God.  He is good.  He has my best interest in mind.  And the “end” of the Christian life is not health and vitality; it’s service, sacrifice, and salvation as a follower of Jesus.

And that is what I hope to be–that’s my prayer.