Lenten Meditation for Today: The Power of Prayer, or The Face of God
I used to think that the “power of prayer” meant that if I prayed enough God would decide to answer my prayer in the way I asked. I was wrong. The power of prayer is much stronger and more beautiful than I had ever imagined.
If you know my family, you know we had a really tough couple of years while my sweet husband was sick and then passed away. But every time an ounce of bad came our way, an ounce and a half of blessings came with it! We were surrounded by angels.
The first time we said out loud that there were angels was after an encounter with a random lady in the grocery store. She started sharing her faith about caring for her husband with a serious illness. She told us God is in charge. If God wants to take her husband, then there’s nothing she can do about it and nothing she does will hurt him. If God wants her husband to stay alive, then whatever she did to help her husband God would turn into what was needed. Therefore, she was going to keep on trying every method she could to help her husband. We were stunned by the strength and conviction of this lady’s faith and realized it was exactly what we needed to hear at that point in my husband’s illness. After we walked away, my husband said, “That was an angel!” I agreed.
We had many such “random” experiences, large and small. We also had a huge community of people praying for us locally, across the country, and even across “the pond”. I now understand that the presence of those angels was part of the power of prayer.
Besides the plethora of angels, there was also a feeling that I’m still struggling to describe. It was like our entire home was wrapped in a warm, comforting blanket. It was like the sunshine of a perfect summer day continually bathing us. Like the feeling a baby bird must have, snug in its nest, comforted and protected by its mother’s body. This feeling was tangible. THIS, I realized, was the power of prayer. The power of prayer is not a petition resulting in an action. Prayer IS the power.
I admit I had never understood the poetic language of the Psalms: hold you in the palm of His hand, let His face shine upon you, protect you under His wing. Now I understand. The Psalmist described exactly what we experienced.
Your challenge for today is first, to recognize one angel that has touched your day. Next, decide how you will add to the power of prayer.
Amen.
Submitted by Lynn