I pray that what I prayed for them might also happen to me.

 

Wednesday, September 13, 2023


Psalm 35:1-17

1 Kings 8:37-53

Acts 27:13-32


Observances: Cyprian of Carthage, bishop and martyr (d. 258); John Chrysostom, bishop and teacher (d. 407)


I pray that what I prayed for them might also happen to me.


The prayer of a Christian is far more than a therapeutic exercise. Here on earth, where the kingdom is breaking forth, we send our prayers to our heavenly Father because we know that He hears them. Innumerable examples across the Old Testament from the mouths of prophets, priests, kings and peasants, confirmed by the words of the Lord Himself, teach us that “up there”, in that lovely place where God’s glory is undimmed, the cries of the people boom.


God also gives us what we ask Him for. We pray, not only because we know God hears us, but because He listens with a loving ear. And we know that love is more than a feeling: love does things. We can be confident of this, no matter our sorry state, because Christ is sitting there at the right hand of the Father, joining His prayers to ours. Our prayers not only go into God: God prays them Himself. Our struggles are His struggles; our pleas are the very same pleas of the heart of Christ.


And so we must not be rash with hard words when we pray for other people. Put aside for a moment the fact that God does not wish harm on anyone; what if we prayed a curse on someone knowing that it would happen? How dangerous would that ability be in the hands of such fickle creatures as us humans? Jesus teaches us to bless our enemies instead. Because when we ask the God of love for love, that love is given to us. That love then does things; it moves around, it increases in the sharing. Curses suck life away, love grows life, and grows it abundantly.


When Christ hung on the tree, He asked His heavenly Father to bless those that put Him there. That includes you and me. That blessing came true; we now love and believe in the name of Jesus. Pray always a blessing on other people; and pray that those blessings may also come onto us, as well.

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