Advent: Life-Changing Gifts...

Week Two: Gifts for God's People...

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
James 5:13-16

How can prayer possibly be effective? We lift words or thoughts to One who cannot be seen, is often silent and inaccessible, whose power and work we hear about, but cannot always see for ourselves. And yet, we are asked to pray, commanded to pray, told that prayer will save the sick, ease suffering, and heal the world. Michele Krull shares her experience of the power of prayer:

The electricity of fear was real as I began my double-lung transplant journey. I was running on continuance, discipline, and stoicism as I went through the daily ritual rhythms of the hospital noises and procedures. Sometimes it made me feel like a nun wanting to leave the cloister. 

When I was questioning if I wanted to live, or why the physical therapist was using so much pomade on his hair, or why I was too wounded in my battle to understand why all this was happening...I reached for my quilt. The quilt. MY QUILT that I could hold close to my face, use as a pillow, or rub the knots between my fingers so I could see the faces and feel the hands of all those who had tied the knots and were praying for me. The quilt provided hope, strength, good health, encouragement, love, prayers, and the promise that God will always be with me. Holding the quilt or just having it near me were the times I could revel in calmness, the controlled promise of wellness and the preservation of my spirit. That feeling remains today. 

Unless you have been the recipient of a prayer quilt, you will never understand the magnitude of its meaning. I have inexplicable gratitude for the angels who made my quilt and the disciples of God who put on the finishing touches. The prayers were felt over and over and are still felt today.

(Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you I also use my quilt to contain my fear that artificial flowers will become extinct!)

We will never know why prayer works; we only know that it does. And that is worth knowing.

God, what other response is there than humble gratitude for the gift of prayer. Amen.