Strong & Courageous

And a little child will lead them

22 Aug 2010 4 Comments

by Carolyn in breast cancer, coping, encouragement, prayer Tags: breast cancer, coping, encouragement, faith, holy cross, prayer

Is God good all the time?

Does God make mistakes?

Is God surprised by our life’s mishaps?

Do our prayers persuade God to change his mind?

This morning during children’s church, I asked the children these questions. My friends Connie, S.K.Y., and I lead children’s worship at our church, Church of the Holy Cross.

I’ve taught on prayer in the past, but I revisited the topic this morning because I really do want the children to pray for me, and because I want God to use my current circumstances to demonstrate His love, mercy, and goodness to others. We talked about the people we pray for on a regular basis. Several children mentioned grandparents who battle ongoing illnesses. Several remembered Mr. Baker and Mrs. Mason, two members of our church who have recently suffered serious health challenges. Others said they pray for the homeless, the victims of natural disasters, and missionaries. I explained that I have breast cancer, the doctors found it in the very early stages, I’m going to be okay, and I want them to pray for me.

Is God good all the time?
Yes. Even when people are sick? Yes. Even when people suffer from the effects of floods and earthquakes? Yes. We may not understand what that means, but God is always good, all the time.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~ Romans 8:28, 35-39

Does God make mistakes?
No. Never. Never ever. His love for each of us is far greater than we can even fathom.

“Prayer does not change God, but prayer does change the circumstances of earth. If we approach prayer as if God’s mind needed to be changed, then aren’t we starting out with the supposition that God is about to make a mistake? But if we understand that every thought and intention in the mind of God is good and righteous, then we will enthusiastically cooperate with Him, praying His power and provision onto the earth.”*

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. ~ Ephesians 3:16-20

. . . take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! ~ Ephesians 3:18, The Message

Is God surprised by our life’s mishaps?
No. He allowed me to get cancer. I don’t have to understand. He’s not running around heaven in a tizzy, with his hands in the air, crying, “Oh no! Carolyn has cancer! How did that happen? She’s so nice. I meant for a bad person to get cancer.”

Even though he was “blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 2:3), all sorts of calamity fell upon Job of the Old Testament, every detail of which God knew about beforehand. God allowed Job to lose every material position he had (which was quite a lot—7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 oxen, 500 donkeys, and “a large number of servants”); all his children (7 sons, 3 daughters) died in a huge fire; he developed miserable sores all over his body; his wife managed to add to his anguish; and his friends criticized and abandoned him. While Job was hardly silent regarding his misery and suffering, he never doubted his God:

“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. . . . . My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” . . . the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. . . . The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. ~ Job 42:2, 5, 10, 12

Do our prayers persuade God to change his mind?
No.

He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind. ~ 1 Samuel 15:29

Then why bother? What’s the point then, if God is going to do what he’s going to do anyway? Why pray? As I told the children this morning, we pray to release the awesome power of their Almighty God to accomplish his purposes in our lives and circumstances.

“The purpose of prayer is to discover God’s will, not obligate him to do mine. . . . I could, through prayer, release God’s power to bring about the best possible solution in every situation, because that is always God’s desire. ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’ (Jeremiah 29:11) . . . .

“God longs to do his will in response to prayer. . . . God answers prayer, but he doesn’t follow instructions. . . . True prayer releases his power so that his power can accomplish immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). . . . Prayer is not an activity, but a relationship. . . . Prayer is what sets God’s will in motion on the earth.”*

Amen.

That’s the long version (more or less, mostly more) of my children’s church homily. We finished children’s church as usual with an abridged version of the Prayers of the People and the Confession of Sin. That’s when Connie taught the children and me the real lesson of the day.

Consistent with Orthodox Anglicanism, Church of the Holy Cross practices the laying on of hands for healing, as well as for confirmation and commissioning. Before the children returned to the sanctuary for Holy Eucharist with their families, Connie explained this healing ministry of Jesus and his disciples. She said that we and all Christians have been commissioned to continue the ministry of laying on of hands and that our church sometimes has special healing and prayer services that include the laying on of hands. Then all the children came and laid hands on me while Connie prayed for God’s healing for me.

I’m a crier. Mostly over the sentimental or sweet or endearing. I cry over suffering and poverty, over unkindness and cruelty, hearing the National Anthem, watching soldiers hug their spouses and children after an overseas deployment, movies, and Hallmark cards. I have not cried over this cancer diagnosis. Until today. I wasn’t crying because I have cancer. I was crying over the wonder of 19 children, nearly all of whom I’ve known since they were born, laying hands on me and praying for my healing. It was perhaps the most remarkable and precious spiritual experience ever.

Prayer requests:

• Thank and praise God for the sweet children at Church of the Holy Cross.
• I have an appointment with Dr. Hamad on Monday at 1:15. I’ll get the results from the MRI, and we’ll make the big treatment decisions. Pray for clarity and wisdom.
• Details, details, details—carpool, trumpet, guitar, soccer, doc appointments (for people other than me), writing, general appointments, phone calls—it makes me dizzy. Pray for productivity and the wisdom to know what to delegate (and to whom).

* Jennifer Kennedy Dean (2003). Live a Praying Life. Birmingham, AL: New Hope Publishers.