The privilege of prayer

3:46 p.m. Today's project was to rally approximately 300 believers on Facebook to pray for an emergency in our family. Four-week-old Rylee, pictured here with her father Chad, had stopped breathing last night, needed to be resuscitated by paramedics, and transferred from the Emergency Room at St. Joseph's Hospital to CHOC, where she underwent a spinal tap!

The response from friends was tremendous, as I knew it would be. A few people wrote out the most lovely prayers, like this one from
Linda, a friend from Calvary Chapel Moreno Valley, who doesn't even know the family: "Father, I lift up little Rylee to You. You are in charge and know what is going on in her little body. I pray that You will heal her, restore her to good health. Lord, be with her mom and dad. Give them peace as they go through this trial. In Jesus' Name. Amen." Now that's effective, fervent prayer! (James 5:16).

What a joy to see the outpouring of love from scores of believers today, willing to pray, believing in the power of God, and counting it a privilege to bring this little girl to His throne in her hour of need! And later today, how thrilling it was to receive a text from Chad simply saying, "She's doing good." Praise You, Father!

It is said repeatedly, and lamentably, that Christians don't spend nearly as much time praying as we ought, or as we could be. We want to pray, we are blessed when we pray, our hearts and spirits are uplifted when we pray. so what is it that gets in our way? Matthew 26:41b recounts what Jesus said to the dozing disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane when He had asked them to come apart with Him to watch and pray the night before His crucifixion. "The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak."

Often when I pray, I'll fidget, get distracted, and have to give the topic my mind has wandered to back to the Lord to deal with! Then I return to my train of thought, speaking or quietly waiting to hear from Him, whether it's assurance, comfort, guidance, warning, or correction. I don't want to miss any one of those aspects of my Lord's communication to me, even if I find myself confronting my own sin, or informed of a sin issue in the life of a loved one. I want all He has to tell me because, even if the Holy Spirit's prompting is jarring to my status quo or discomfiting in some way, I find a definite peace and path as a result.

Today's prayer for Rylee, (known as intercessory prayer) is a joyful and special privilege we believers have. Imagine ourselves selected to join one another in acknowledging God's faithfulness and representing our knowledge of Him to others, and glorifying Him corporately in agreement: "God, You can do anything! Grant our requests for this family! We ask this in Jesus' Name, Amen." And we trust God to do what is right, what is best, what is needed in the lives of those we intercede for.

Will I always love God's answers? No. But I will always know that His answers are holy, righteous, and the best answers for me now and forever. I love you, Lord my Father!!