07/16/2017
This morning I read of God's provision and gifts to us. I am strengthening myself in the understanding that He is always there, always good, and always hears and answers my prayers. My confidence in these facts forms the basis for my expectation in Him and relieves me of worry.
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:11 ESV
I stood at the bedside of an elderly family member who was unresponsive and prayed for them. First I prayed for their salvation, then their comfort, and finally, if it be God's will, that He give them back to us. I had then, and continue to have now, the utmost in confidence that God heard those prayers, and answered them. I couldn't see what was going on inside this loved one's mind in regard to salvation, but I believe they were given that choice and that the Holy Spirit led them to a renewed profession of faith. I watched as they suffered for three more days and although I was saddened by their suffering, I was sure that it was necessary and that it served a purpose... perhaps to give time to their soul as it sought perfection before God. Then finally, when they died to this world, I knew it was God's will and perfect timing for this life.
Some of you are probably asking yourselves how I could know this, and think me foolish for believing that God heard my prayer, but I can assure you that He did. When we are standing by the bedside of someone we love, while they are suffering, and we want desperately for them to remain with us, it is easy to think that God doesn't hear us, or that we are foolish for placing our confidence in the spiritual. However, He does, and His spirit is with us always. He also hears the prayers of the person who suffers before us.
On another occasion, my mother-in-law was taken to the hospital in an unresponsive state. She had been suffering with dementia for some time and hadn't known her family when they visited. When I arrived in her hospital hospital room, I greeted my wife, and her sons. The atmosphere was filled with sadness and the fear that this was the beginning of her final days. They walked into the hallway to talk, so as not to disturb her, and I found myself alone with her as she lay breathing shallow breaths in what we would call a coma. I went to her bedside and lovingly placed one hand on her forehead and took her hand with my other, and began to pray silently for her. I prayed that God remove her suffering, that he would lift her from the throws of death if it be His will, and I prayed for her soul and salvation. I knew this woman to be a saint, so my confidence was high... then something amazing happened...
As I finished praying, I gently removed my hands from her, and without a break in her breathing, or opening her eyes, she said aloud... "Thank You." Up until that moment she had been totally unresponsive. I hadn't prayed aloud, but I had felt the presence of the Lord as I spoke on her behalf. What I believe, and I want to convey to you, is that there were at least three people who heard my unspoken prayer that day... God, me, and my mother-in-law. Never doubt that God hears your prayers... even when we don't hear His answer as I did. John wrote about this too...
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”
1 John 5:13-14 ESV
So even when we ourselves are in threatening situations and quickly utter a prayer, we should know with absolute confidence that He is there and rest assured that He has heard us. Let the utterance of a comatose woman of faith, with severe dementia, speak to you as it spoke to me... God is here with us! Then have confidence that at that moment in your life, His will for you will manifest itself.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your constant presence, and answered prayer. I thank you for the reassurance of scripture, and the everyday events of our lives, that give testament to you and the fulfillment of your promise to us. Help me to give my troubles completely unto you in prayer, and to find peace in the fact that they are in your hands. Holy Father, lead me to the bedside of the dying that I might pray with them and give them reassurance as they prepare to meet you. Never let me doubt that my prayers on the behalf of others are heard by you, and even by the very soul of the person for whom I pray. Let my intercession comfort them, accompany your hand as it reaches to touch them, and strengthen my faith in so doing. Father I praise your name for the goodness and mercy you show us each day, and my soul shouts out in prayer "Holy, Holy, Holy, is He... God Almighty."
Rich Forbes