The Power of Prayer

It's May 11 in the year of our LORD 2016.

Not an awful lot has changed for Ben in his cancer battle since I last posted my strange story in April.  He has moved from hydrocodone to oxycodone for a pain reliever.  Hydrocodone tends to make him "not care" and he doesn't like the feeling.  Both drugs are in the same family (as I understand it), but the oxycodone is treating him better.  

When his pain is controlled, he's mainly up and about, acting normally.  When his pain is not controlled, he lies about or sleeps, waiting for that moment when the pain reliever breaks the grip of unrelenting pain.  It's a strange balancing act -- one to which I can't really contribute much beyond "did you take your pain reliever yet" -- and my heart aches for him and his struggle.

On the bright side, we learned at his last office visit that his CEA marker dropped from 34 to 33.  It's such a small decrease that the oncologist warned us against reading very much into the value.  Of course, I excitedly tucked that spot of news into my happy day hat like a giant peacock feather and have been bunny hopping through my days with it in tow.  I'm an optimist.  Give me a tiny sun beam and I'll take the whole kit and kaboodle.  It's who I am.  

And, admission time: viewing the positives as highly as possible, no matter how small, gets me through my day.  And, right now with depression putting it's naughty foot through my door, I need all the joy I can muster.  

So, the LORD impressed on me to write this next bit quite some time ago -- last fall actually.  I didn't do it then because I wasn't sure how to present it.  But something happened today that propelled this to the forefront of my mind.

Over the 20 months since Ben's diagnosis, we have been the subject of much prayer.  It's the buoy of our lives, the pillar that holds us, and especially me, up when it feels like to me that every little bit of life is crumbling around us.  If it weren't for prayer and the LORD's hand, I'm not sure how I'd be walking through this.

But, I've learned something of exceeding value in all this time.  Something you may know already.  But I didn't.  And since learning of this great treasure, I have been working to make sure I pass this treasure along to those in my world whom I touch, however brief.  It's a work in progress, and I'm a slow learner. 

There is nothing more powerful in this universe than prayer.  And it's power is felt like rushing waves when you run into a loving family member or precious friend and the first thing they say is, "come here and let me pray over you."

Being held in someone's arms as they speak the word of the LORD over me has a value beyond diamonds.  For a moment in time, I feel like the LORD is holding me close through the arms of a living, breathing follower of Jesus Christ and IT FEELS GOOD.

In my life, I've said on countless occasions, "I will pray for you."  And, embarrassingly, I probably forget for days to actually just, you know, PRAY.  Or, forgotten completely.

God doesn't want us to forget to pray.  It's good for us, because we get alone with our Abba Father in heaven.  It's good for those for whom we pray, because like Ben and I right now, prayer is a buoy in the storm.  You can FEEL when people are praying for you, and sometimes you just need that feeling.

But truly, the power of being prayed over right at the moment you are with someone is absolutely beyond value.  And, quite honestly, I might never have understood this if not for this powerful storm raging in our lives.  It may have taken something this big for me to learn something so simple.

It would do me little good to share my treasure without the event that precipitated my post.

My daughter participates in recreational gymnastics at a local business.  We arrived there today, just a little late, and as we approached the door the lady who runs the desk came out.  I didn't realize she was walking right up to me, until she stopped me.  It turns out that one of the wonderful teachers passed away last night.  

The look her face told me she was heartbroken.  I was holding a basket of crochet, but I reached out anyway, pulled her into my arms, and prayed out loud over her.  It was brief, but I had to do it.  I couldn't refuse.  God wasn't letting me go of that responsibility.  And I felt so happy to have been a vehicle for the LORD's love on this sweet lady in her time of pain.  Itty bitty me.   

I doubt I would have ever done that before our storm.  Maybe I would have.  Maybe the day would have come and I'd bravely lift my voice to heaven over someone who is practically a stranger.  But maybe not.  Maybe I would continue to be silent in the face of moments of tender mercy from the LORD through my actions.

I don't know the answer to that on this side of heaven.  But I'm glad that I have a new treasure to share, and that the LORD was able to put that treasure to use through me.  It reminds of me Psalm 8 (emphasis mine).

³ When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
⁴ What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
⁵ Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!

I am grateful to the LORD of all creation that He was able to teach me and use me.  I am grateful that He can use each and every one of us in the very same way.  That He waits patiently for that moment, and that He could touch the lives of others through our loving obedience.

Matthew 18:20 NASB
²⁰ For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

*Graphic at beginning of page is from the website The Graphics Fairy.  All credit for the lovely image belongs to them.