12/16/2024
I wrote much of this morning's devotional offering a few years ago, but after reading it again, I thought I would share it with all the readers of my morning devotional thoughts... it speaks of my journey, of prayer, and of God's hand in our lives, and it deals with something that is all but lost in the church today. So, this morning we will deal with praying from a broad base of experience, and with a heightened sense of compassion that years of living, and suffering, give us. This is our contemplation and was also the subject of my morning devotional reading.
"No man with narrow views of God, of His plan to save people, and of the universal needs of all people can pray effectively. It takes a broad-minded man who understands God and His purposes in the Atonement to pray well.
Prayer comes from a big heart, filled with thoughts about sympathies for all people." – E. M. Bounds
Pastor Bounds wrote these words long ago, and as I sat in my prayer chair and studied his words and the scripture verse from Psalms that he had selected to accompany them, I began to see the wisdom in them.
“The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.”
Psalm 145:14 KJV
It took a while before I felt that intercessory prayer was truly one of my callings, but reading through various scriptures, and the thoughts of Pastor Bounds, had allowed me to see God’s hand in it. At last I felt comfort in having joined these elder men of the church. At last I saw how I had been groomed for this my entire life, and that praying with these two seasoned prayer warriors, Jack Hughes and John Saucier, was God’s will for me. Here is the story…
When I was asked to join them, I told my wife, Ann, about their request and she simply replied "what took them so long? I knew this two years ago." She had been given a premonition. Likewise, I had been having thoughts about why they hadn't replaced Jim Enoch (who had passed away 14 years prior). But neither Ann nor I voiced our thoughts to the other. But having done so now, and having prayed over the decision, I agreed to become the third member.
Almost immediately after joining the prayer team I was told I had cancer. Interestingly enough it was in a part of my body that I had been seeking medical attention for over the past two years... Yet when finally diagnosed, I didn't immediately put two and two together and see God’s hand in it. I saw only the tribulation, and not the blessing, but God would change that.
You see, I believe now that God had begun this joining of Jack, John, and me, and the preparation for the final experience which I needed in the process, two years prior to them asking me to pray with them. His plan was in action before any of us realized it. But He needed me to experience one more thing before I could fully feel the compassion that would be required of me in prayer... I had to face a life-threatening disease. I had to place my life in His hands and humbly seek the prayers of these elders. I needed to understand what personal desperation felt like, I needed to seek Him immediately and fully, and I needed to feel the compassion of those who surrounded me in prayer before I could own it myself. I had to understand that I had to walk many stretches of the road of life before I could incorporate them in my prayers for others who were walking it now.
Then, as Jack, John, and others prayed for me… He healed me.
He healed me because it was His will, and He healed me as confirmation to all those who come to Jack, John, and me for Intercessory prayer that bad things happen to all Christians, and that God answers their prayers according to His will. It isn’t the punishment we so often believe it to be, nor is it God removing His hand from us to allow Satan to sift us, no, it is glorious, and it is by His hand, and it is in His will! There are divine purposes in the storms of life.
Asking for prayer from others is an act of humility, it is admitting our inabilities to others and humbling ourselves before God. It is a plea to God for his mercy in the events we encounter that only He can resolve. It is an act of trust, love, and faith.
So I read Psalm 145 in its entirety... And it lifted me up. I especially liked verse four because it spoke of our elder’s prayer team so perfectly.... Jack in his eighties, John in his seventies, and me in my sixties.
“One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.”
Psalms 145:4 KJV
If Jim Enoch were alive at the time I joined the team he would have been in his nineties... Generations declaring God to generations. How perfect is the continuum of God's word. You see, as we age we gain more than a deeper insight into scripture, and a depth of faith… we gain experiences in life and thus come to understand what it is that we are praying for. This is why we seek the elders when we are sick or in need of prayer, it is because of their seasoning as life has dealt with them, and the ability it gives them to come before the Lord with tears of experience in their eyes… with a heartfelt prayer that only those who have traveled life can bring.
Do we seek out the elders in our churches for prayer? Do we understand not only the length of their lives, but the height and breadth of them as well? Are there any of us who are older now, and have gathered many experiences, and felt the pruning knife in our lives often enough, to ask God if this is His call for them? Are there Elders sitting in the pews who are ready to pray in this way?
“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
James 5:14-16 KJV
Prayer:
Thank you, Father, every lesson we have received in preparation for our ability to pray powerfully in intercession. Father, thank you for calling us to intercede in prayer for your children. Thank you for leading us through a sundry of life's trials and tribulations in preparation for prayer as we pursue your will in our lives. We ask that you open our hearts to the needy and stricken, and we ask that our compassion for those who suffer would never fade or lessen with time. Lord God, we ask that your Holy Spirit fill us as we pray for the indigent, and that coupled with your healing hand, you will forgive the sins of those who call upon us to pray for them. Lord, move upon your church so that all in need will come forth for the prayer of faith that only their elder saints who have travelled through the storms of life can bring to bear. Teach us to accept the prayers of those who are suffering in their lives, or are dying themselves, as they pray in intercession for our illnesses. Give us understanding of the empathy they bring to their prayers for us, and the intensity of their desire that we be healed, even as they pray in disregard of their own suffering for a time to spend it with you on our behalf. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who seasons us in life and righteousness. Holy are you who calls the elders to pray for us, heal us, and make way for you to forgive us our sins. Hear our elders as they pray for us from places of wisdom gathered from many trials. And hear the prayers of the young who are suffering in their youth by leading them to their elders, and by opening their eyes to your hand that is guiding them through their pains and tribulations along this road of faith that is their lives. In this we give you the glory Father, and offer up our praises in life’s storms. We humble ourselves, and trust that no matter our suffering your promises are true. We hold firm to the understanding that all things work together for good to those who love you… and so we believe and love you always.
Let all those young and old alike hear truth, and say…
Amen! Amen! Amen!
“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”
1 Peter 5:1-3 ESV
“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.”
Leviticus 19:32 ESV
“Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:5-7 ESV
Rich Forbes