Prayer.

This month, I wanted you share with you an excerpt from Chapter Nineteen from my book A Portrait of Grief.

            When sorrow is heaped upon sorrow, we cannot help but wonder if the Lord has turned against us.  As darkness closes around us in the death of our loves, we are sent on a pilgrimage that can end in a heart turned to stone.  It is the unanswered prayers that hurt the most.  I admire Tony Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas.  When Tony’s wife, Lois, became ill with cancer, he not only prayer for her healing, but he also asked his church and the nation to pray for her healing.  At his wife’s funeral, Tony asked their son, Jonathan, to deliver a eulogy.  In this powerful tribute, Jonathan answers some of our questions about prayer in the face of death in his eulogy for his mother. In the eulogy. Jonathan said:

“I was wrestling with God because I said, “If we have victory in Your name, didn’t You hear us when we were praying? Didn’t You see the cancer?...

Didn’t You hear us?  Why didn’t You do what we were asking of You? Because your Word says, ‘If we abide in You and Your Word abides in us we can ask whatever we will and it will be given to us?’  You Word tells us that if we ask according to Your will that You hear us.

Your Word is telling us in Mark 11 that ‘if you pray believing you will receive.’ ‘To be anxious for nothing, but through prayer and supplication make your request known.’ ‘Where are You?’

I was wrestling with God the last few days because this was a great opportunity that we can tangibly see Your glory.

Everybody was praying, not only in Dallas, but around the country and around the world.  People were watching.  Where are You?  This was an opportunity to see Your glory.

And as I was wrestling with God, He answered.

And He said, ‘Number 1, You don’t understand the nature of My victory because just because I didn’t answer your prayer your way doesn’t mean I haven’t already answered your prayer anyway.’

‘Because victory was already given to your mom.  You don’t understand because of the victory that I have given you.’

‘There was always only two answers to your prayers---either she was going to be healed or she was going to be healed.  Either she was going to live, or she was going to live.  Either she was going to be with family, or she was going to be with family.  Either she was going to be well taken care of or she was going to be well taken care of.  Victory belongs to Me because of what I’ve already done for you.

‘The two answers to your prayer are yes and yes.  Because victory belongs to Jesus.’

Then He said to me, “You need to understand that I am God and I am sovereign.  And My game plan is bigger than any one player on the field.’

‘So you need to trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on you but lean on Me because I have the ability to make this crooked situation straight.  I am the sovereign God.  That’s why they say that I am.’

How do you respond to Jonathan’s words?  How do you respond to the Lord’s words? Does this change your perspective on the Lord or on prayer or on your love one’s destiny?