In late January, COVID hit Frankfort very hard. Through two different prayer group connections, I was part of some intense prayer for those who were very ill. This prayer experience has rearranged some of the furniture of my soul.
Now that ALL of the people we were so intensely praying for are either well or on the road to recovery, I am reflecting on what that rearrangement is and what it means. That consideration mixes today with our Scripture readings.
Turning to Face the Passion and Resurrection
The first reading today comes from the final section of Isaiah. Yesterday, we celebrated Laetare Sunday. Lent is half over! Mother Church now begins to turn our prayer focus away from our sins and toward our salvation from them. Our attention moves from what we have done to what God does when we repent:
The selection from Isaiah sets the new tone:
Thus says the LORD:
Lo, I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
The things of the past shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness
in what I create;
The Psalm picks it up:
I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world;
you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.
“Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;
O LORD, be my helper.”
You changed my mourning into dancing;
O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
The Gospel
The Gospel today comes from early in Jesus public life. We see Jesus creating a new heaven and a new earth—the Kingdom of God. In John’s Gospel Jesus begins his public ministry in Galilee, calls his first disciples, changes water into wine at the wedding at Cana, then goes to Jerusalem for Passover. While in Jerusalem, he casts the money changers out of the temple (thus setting the stage for the three-year battle with the scribes and Pharisees), and has the conversation with Nicodemus (who will claim and bury his body after the crucifixion) in which he says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only beloved Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
In today’s Gospel, Jesus has returned home to Galilee. On his way back, he went through Samaria and had the conversation with the “Woman at the Well” (John 4: 1-42) During that conversation, Jesus said for the first time, “I am the Messiah.” Now he is back in Galilee healing and teaching. He is busy, very busy, doing good works for the Father, for the people.
Enter an “official” whose son is ill. He asks Jesus to cure his son. Probably this official is a pagan of Herod’s court. He is not of the children of Israel. But—God is creating a NEW heaven and a NEW earth. The Father uses the official’s love and concern for his son to expand the foundation of that new Kingdom to include more of the excluded: the pagans.
Yet Jesus does not seem enthusiastic about this expansion. He seems a bit unhappy with the request as he says, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” I imagine Jesus saying that with a sigh, with a tone of disappointment.
But that doesn’t make any difference. Jesus doesn’t follow the official to Capernaum to lay hands on the boy. Jesus simply says, “Go; your son will live.”
And he did. Jesus provided the sign while the worried father waited. At the very hour Jesus and the official talked, the child began to recover. Then, the official “believed, and all his household.”
Sometimes, even if makes Jesus sigh, we need a sign.
This New Intercessory Prayer Adventure
Probably, like you, intercessory prayer is a regular part of my life. What made the COVID infection prayers different? And what difference have they made in the furniture of my soul? I entered into this intercessory prayer with an intensity and a confidence that was new. I prayed with serious fervor–day after day–from January into March.
Part of what made a difference in the prayer was the seriousness of COVID. These folks were in the “COVID ward” of our local hospital. Their fevers were high, their breathing was labored, and they were in danger of death. In some cases, it seemed it would take a miracle to save their lives. I wasn’t praying that God would turn his attention to them, bless them. I was praying that God would save them as a witness of his power and caring. The more I prayed, the more important that was to me, the more intense my prayer.
I knew some of the people, but not all of them. That made a difference, too. I wasn’t asking a favor from God based on my relationships or because I had been asked to pray. I was asking for saving from God because of the sheer need of those for whom I was praying.
I was not praying alone—or with two or three others. There were a dozen or so of us who formed a spiritual lancet of request. I found my mind turning to prayer throughout the day; so did others. We were supported by a larger prayer group that formed a spiritual wall of protection.
There also was a leader, a woman of deep faith, who knew well all those we were praying for. She wrote updates each day via emails. We knew when someone might have to go on a ventilator and when someone was taken off one. We knew what to beg God for and when to praise him for prayers answered. That helped keep my prayers fresh and frequent.
We also knew when any corner was turned. For me, for whatever reason, when signs of healing came, the joy and hope of it flooded me. As that happened, it was like I was sitting on the edge of my seat, watching the contest, cheering signs of victory, wringing my hands and heart at signs of defeat. As a result, the prayer took over. It became a priority, no matter what I was doing.
Intercessory prayer became an experience of holding hands with God AND holding hands with Christian community. It became a lived experience of God’s power and willingness to heal shared with others.
How is intercessory prayer for you? Have you had experiences like this, when you felt like you were truly standing in the gap, making the connection that became God’s means of God working while you waited?
Prayer:
Lord, thank You for this new adventure in prayer You have given me. I beg You, keep it fresh in my mind and heart. I’ve never understood how such intercessory prayer works, but I’ve seen it many times. Yet, it feels like I am seeing it for the first time. As You healed the official’s son, You healed those we prayed for. Thank You.
