Nancy Walker, Altar Guild, Prayer Team, Member of the Goodwill Class 

James 5:13-18 

If any of you are suffering, they should pray.  If any of you are happy, they should sing.  If any of you are sick, they should call for the elders of the church, and the elders should pray over them anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.  Prayer that comes from faith will heal the sick, for the Lord will restore them to health.  And if they have sinned, they will be forgiven.  For this reason, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve.  Elijah was a person just like us.  When he earnestly prayed that it wouldn’t rain, no rain fell for three and a half years.  He prayed again, God sent rain, and the earth produced its fruit.  

 

Reflection:

Prayer.  What is it? Is it worth our time and energy?  

Prayer is our direct line to God. Although it is not like the old wall phone I once had in my kitchen, or the cell phone that now stays with me everywhere I go, God’s line is always available. A power outage never renders it inoperable, nor does it die if I forget to charge it.  God wants to connect with us, to hear our joys and our sorrows as well as our needs. As I have grown and matured in my faith, I understand more clearly how important it is to talk and have a real connection to Go. It is one way our faith grows, in good times and hard times.

It seems we most urgently turn to prayer when we have a problem: illness, financial woes, personal problems, whatever throws us into a tizzy. God is always there to listen, even if the answer is not exactly what we wanted. I am reminded of a dear cousin whose husband died recently. He had suffered through an aggressive bout of colon cancer that was treated with chemotherapy, radiation, and finally, surgery. We all prayed that he would be healed. After the surgery, it was obvious to everyone that he was not going to heal, at least as we understand that word. I remembered that Rev. Ron Morris, who once taught the Goodwill Class, told us that death is one way God heals. The vibrant, caring, Christian man that took care of everyone ebbed away. I was then more concerned for his wife, my cousin, until I realized that she understood.  Their faith together let her send him to his Lord, where she knows he has been healed. Asking God does not always mean we get the answer we want, but it does mean he listens, knows more than we do, and will take care of us in God’s own loving way.   

Asking God for forgiveness of my sins is a daily exercise for me. I know that my Lord Jesus carried all my sins with him when he died on the cross. Still, I ask daily because asking forgiveness is part of my penance. It is also important that we thank him, praise him, and rejoice in this connection to a God who loves us. I doubt that I will ever have the connection that Elijah did, especially the day he defeated the priests of Baal (Isaiah 18). That does not matter. What does matter is that I have a connection to my God every time I pray.  God always answers the phone, because God does not have an answering machine!

Prayer: 

Dear God, Thank you for listening, for caring and for loving me every day.  Please help me to remember to turn to you every day. I know you want to share my joys and my sorrows, and I know you are always there, no matter what time of day we call. Amen.