Throughout the night, I woke periodically and prayed for Darren. About 3:00 am, I was at it again, not because I am such a spiritual man, but because God kept waking me up, so it seemed like the right thing to do. And I learned something. Without Scripture, prayer is impossible. Apart from Scripture, prayer is reduced to a list of woes, a desperate pleading for things to change, but with no real assurance that it makes any difference. At first, I was doing just that, and my prayers seemed to fall limp and listless from my lips. But as I began recounting the Biblical narrative of salvation and deliverance, I noticed something happening: my prayers began to be energized. They came to life. From one who doesn't know what it means to live out of my feelings, I FELT myself growing in faith and confidence.
I know that such feelings are no measure or indication of the effectiveness of prayer. We still wait, longing for the answer we hope to hear. In the meantime, we remember that God promises to honor his word, not ours; to accomplish his purposes which are greater than we can ask or imagine, so that Jesus Christ his Son may be honored. We also know that answers to prayer often come in ways we don't expect, that God's purposes are far greater and take in more factors than we can imagine. We think in more immediate and personal ways; God takes in centuries and all of Creation. The crucifixion of Christ is reminder enough that what seems in the moment to be disaster may be the foundation on which ultimate victory is built. So Christians around the world are even at this very moment enduring unimaginable hardships, persecution, torture, and death in spite of prayers for their deliverance. God hasn't forgotten them, and is not unmoved by their suffering.
The best definition of prayer that I have ever heard is this: "Prayer is rebellion against the status quo." We pray because there is much in this world that falls far short of the redemptive plan and purposes of God, and prayer is how we begin to see through the fog of human experience to the future God has planned for us. I am grateful for the Scriptures that make my prayers live because God's Word is "alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword...and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Darren has come through his surgery. Jen reports that the tumor is a chordoma, is cancerous, but that they believe they got it all. Radiation will follow at some time in the future, but our prayers have been heard, and we are thankful even as we continue to lift Darren in those prayers to the throne of God himself.
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