Last night while teaching class at my church one of our elders received a call that one of our members' parents had been involved in a terrible car accident. He came back into the class reported to us about the accident and what we knew at the moment, then led us in prayer for our member and her family. We had about 10 minutes of class time left and I decided to end class and travel with this elder to sit with our member as she waited in the hospital to hear about her parents. We picked up his wife, another member from our church, and we all drove into Little Rock to the hospital. We came to the waiting room and found the family. Our member was in somewhat shock because her dad died in the accident and her mother was at the time in surgery for the injuries sustained in the accident. We sat with her, met her extended family, offered our assistance for whatever she might need, and in the end we prayed together. We were there almost 2 hours.
The truth is that if feels very weak to simply show up spend 2 hours sitting, say one public prayer and then leave. However, we cannot underestimate the power of being present when crisis occurs. The truth is we weren't saying one prayer, each of us were praying that entire trip to Little Rock and back and while sitting there. When crises happen, we realize just how temporal is our world and how eternal is our God. Our presence with the family was 2 hours, our prayers though are still echoing in the ear of God.
As people who journey together we must be willing to be a presence, even if it is temporary and we must be willing to pray, which is eternal. God brings the two together. God uses our presence to be His presence to those in need and he hears and responds to our prayers. So, any time I walk into a nursing home, hospital room, or the living room of the grieving I am a presence of God with an eternal word. And people respond to our presence with overwhelming appreciation and our prayers with hope, trust, and love. They may not in that time be able to speak holy words, but they trust us as brothers and sisters to be their ambassadors to the Divine.
Never underestimate your presence with people.
Never discount your prayers to God.
Both Humans and God find them meaningful and holy.
The truth is that if feels very weak to simply show up spend 2 hours sitting, say one public prayer and then leave. However, we cannot underestimate the power of being present when crisis occurs. The truth is we weren't saying one prayer, each of us were praying that entire trip to Little Rock and back and while sitting there. When crises happen, we realize just how temporal is our world and how eternal is our God. Our presence with the family was 2 hours, our prayers though are still echoing in the ear of God.
As people who journey together we must be willing to be a presence, even if it is temporary and we must be willing to pray, which is eternal. God brings the two together. God uses our presence to be His presence to those in need and he hears and responds to our prayers. So, any time I walk into a nursing home, hospital room, or the living room of the grieving I am a presence of God with an eternal word. And people respond to our presence with overwhelming appreciation and our prayers with hope, trust, and love. They may not in that time be able to speak holy words, but they trust us as brothers and sisters to be their ambassadors to the Divine.
Never underestimate your presence with people.
Never discount your prayers to God.
Both Humans and God find them meaningful and holy.
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