My sister recorded some of our father’s prayers before he died. As I listened, it was not what he prayed that caught my attention but how he prayed. He prayed with passion. He knew the end was coming. At one point he mentioned a bright light. Those audible prayers were followed by days of silence. Then he died.
I realize the title of this blog could be a bit confusing. Yes, I am using a play-on-words. We live with little thought of dying. Our days are filled with work and activities of our choosing. Without a divine interruption, our faith and our prayers can become very selfish and shallow.
A. W. Tozer said, "God cannot use a man or woman greatly until He wounds them deeply." If that quote threatens your spiritual psyche, let me state it in a Stan Means quote that may be more palatable. “God is neither obligated to overrule our bad decisions nor heal all of our woes, but he can use them to bring us into deeper faith, closer fellowship, and full surrender.”
Bad things happen to good people. Pain, disease, and death have been the way of life since Adam’s rebellion. Show me someone who doesn’t feel pain, who hasn’t known hurt, and I will probably show you a miserably selfish person. The prayers of a dead man (or woman) are often silent prayers, simply meditating and listening for God to move. They are also the prayers of thanksgiving and full surrender that place it all, ALL, on the altar, just as Abraham did.
Our world seems to be falling apart. Maybe we need to start praying like dead men and women.
Stan Means
Elder Source Senior Ministries
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