ODJ: Jesus, help!

November 11, 2013 

READ: Luke 11:5-10 

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most (Hebrews 4:16).

My friend’s baby suffered brain damage during delivery. The doctors aren’t too optimistic. They think that even if the child survives, she won’t lead a normal life.

Ever since I received this news, my mind has been searching for the words to pray. But I don’t know how to pray or what to pray right now. All I know is the One to whom I should pray—God. He’s the Sovereign One, and He says that He hears me when I call (Luke 11:9-10).

I’m reminded that God is capable of miracles. He raised Jairus’ daughter back to life! Everyone was absolutely sure that the girl was beyond cure. But “Jesus took her by the hand and said in a loud voice, ‘My child, get up!’ And at that moment her life returned, and she immediately stood up!” (8:49-55). Jesus didn’t just chase away death; He also healed the girl of whatever disease had robbed her of life.

But what if God doesn’t heal? Surely it’s not that He lacks the power. Could it be that He’s not all-loving? Perhaps that He doesn’t care? Can’t be! For as I look at the cross, I’m confident that God is love (1 John 4:9-10). So that leaves us with one last possibility—He doesn’t know what’s best. But Job was challenged to look at creation to know that this is not true (Job 38-39). God is good, and He does know what’s best.

So I’ll simply lean on His power, love and wisdom as I pray. I may not know what’s the best thing to pray, but the Psalms reveal that I can approach God in absolute honesty. That’s what I’ll bring. And I’ll remember what Oswald Chambers wrote, “I do believe that by intercessory prayer, as Jesus Himself has told us, the great power of God works in ways that we cannot conceive.” —Poh Fang Chia