Personal Journal Entry #56
I have been making calls on behalf of the Christian Civic League to drum up interest and attendance at an upcoming Pray for Maine event. It is a simple task of calling the people on your assigned list and rattling off a prewritten script about the event in the hope that they will be as enthused as we volunteers are, or at least, not hang up. Truth be told, I only speak live to maybe one or two per ten calls, as most go to voicemail, and I just leave a message, send them a text, and move on. Sometimes, however, you get someone on the line who wants to chat. The other day, I got someone who wanted to school me on the “useless practice of prayer.” I was caught off guard, but curious, I proceeded to enter into a discussion with this woman and uncovered our very different opinions on talking to God.
It started very innocently. She, let’s call her Rebecca, answered the call. I introduced myself and went on with my invitation to the event when she cut me off and said she would not be attending, as she had just been diagnosed with her second bout of lung cancer. I told her I was sorry and told her I would pray for her successful journey back to health, when she stopped me, again, and told me not to waste the effort, that prayers to God were useless. Now, you would think that Rebecca was at least an agnostic and at worst, an atheist, but she proclaimed herself a devout Christian. I proceeded to tell her a bit about my journey and the failures of medicine, and how it was only through the number of people praying for me and the grace of God that I achieved remission. She went on to correct me and explain that I was saved because of God’s will and it had nothing to do with prayer. God’s will is predetermined, and praying for a better outcome is fruitless. I contended that we pray to God for grace, mercy, and guidance. Our prayers may not change His mind, but they may lead us to understand why He has chosen this path for us and give us the strength to accept it.
Rebecca was a stubborn woman who was sticking to her conviction that the time spent praying would be better spent preparing to live or to die, depending on God’s wishes. Rebecca and I agreed to disagree and would move on, though I did slip in a “God bless,” and I would pray for you before I hung up quickly. I wasn’t sticking around for round 2.
In a way, Rebecca was right. If we believe in God’s will, why should we think we have the power to conjure up a few words and convince Him that He is wrong and should go a different route? We don’t have that power. On the other hand, those prayers may give God a reason to stop and reevaluate. Maybe he has a use for us on earth, should He give us a temporary reprieve. I am going to keep on praying, and I will sneak one in for Rebecca every so often.
My prayers, and all of yours, too, were answered last week as I had a clean endoscopy and a CAT scan. The dilation of my esophagus did not work, and we can chalk that up to another medical slip-up. Every meal is an adventure, and I don’t know if it will go down or come back up. I could write a book on how every procedure over the last 18 months has gone astray, but because of the power of prayer, God has blessed me with remission. Maybe we should all throw a quick one in Rebecca’s direction.
So, have a great day, and thanks for stopping by. May God bless you and wrap His loving arms around you.
Ray
Content syndicated from Conservative View from New Hampshire with permission
