“Is it possible that God has called us into this work so
that we might pray,” Diane Mandt Langberg asks? ( In Our Lives First: Meditations for Counselors, p.13) She writes for counselors
who work with people whose problems are many and varied, tragic and deeply
troubling. Given the failures in
the church, I can see why the professional counselors who serve so many hurting
hearts are in need of revival for themselves. If they would lead others out of their darkness into spiritual
health, the counselors must live what they recommend.
Me, too.
These meditations are having a restorative influence in my
thinking, and I commend this volume, especially if it’s beginning to dawn on
you that life is hard, and people we care about often behave very badly – too
often in the church!
“Our intercession can cover far more people and situations than we can
ever help in the literal sense . . . It is in the process of interceding that
God’s purpose and wise order is brought about in this world. ” (p. 14)
First, in my own life – for when I turn my mind and heart to
prayer for people I love –and not just toss out some rote lines – I see stuff
in me that may be contributing to relationship problems. And I recognize how
lame my love for them can be.
Second, praying revives my faltering faith. Too many times a
day I wander into the pastures of, “Gee, doesn’t universalism (or humanism, or
non-belief or skepticism) sound
like a better coping mechanism than the conviction that God is?” (Exodus 3:15; John 8:58) But just coping can’t be all there is to living, can it?
On some days . . . yes it is.
On other days – I don’t want to just cope, I want to live every moment I have left; and I want to help
others enjoy their lives. Prayer reminds me to let go and let God do for them exceedingly,
abundantly more than I could ask or imagine. He didn’t die and leave me in charge!
When my cousin told her mother that she had been diagnosed
with breast cancer, my aunt told me that she became furious with God, whom she
not wholly believed existed. As she railed against this God, whom she had
doubts about, giving Him "what for" for doing this to her daughter – she caught
herself: If He is real enough to
get angry at, maybe He is real enough to hear my prayers? And she prayed.
Finally, praying to the God who hears and invites me to
pray, and through this mystery, gives nourishment, strength and guidance. (pp.
14-15) Some days we get slammed with news of Christians behaving badly that is
as grim and heartbreaking as receiving a diagnosis of cancer. (If the church is
to be Christ’s representatives on earth, no wonder so many people answer None when
asked if they have a faith!)
Like my aunt, I
stumble in anger, doubt and fear, not so much at world events, but when
Christians blow it. Worse, I am
tempted to judge, dismiss, or rail at others for being so stupid, contemptible,
crass, or weak – actions that would lead me right onto a dangerous slippery
slope. (Matthew 5:22)
Prayer to the God who hears is the guardrail restraining my
heart. It is the response that
expands my hope that life has a purpose and meaning that is beyond “They lived
happily Ever after.”
I turn again to Psalm
116, and hang onto the guardrails of grace – during a very bumpy ride,
where my pride goes before many falls.
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