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October 4, 2020Fourth in a series
By John and Therese Boucher | Special to The CFP
Suffering caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have brought many people to their knees, begging for divine protection for themselves, their families, and loved ones. Such prayer forges a link between our everyday life and God’s presence. But are we also moved to pray for other people in our daily lives and all God’s children? And do we present them to God, not only as subjects of our complaints and worries but as our sisters and brothers in Jesus?
The invitation to bring others to Jesus is first of all an invitation to intercede in evangelizing prayer for them. It’s an invitation to move beyond our own needs in prayer, to give voice to other people’s needs, their health, and welfare, of course, but especially their unmet spiritual needs. Our goal as Christian believers is to lift one another into the arms of Jesus, who is our final destiny and our greatest need.
We can enter into this evangelizing prayer by asking God for the eyes to see a person from Jesus’ point of view. Here are the steps.
Choose someone with an immediate need. Describe his or her situation to Jesus. Ask God what that person might need: physical or emotional healing, a new job, a successful surgery, the mending of broken family relationships. Then allow these needs to act as a doorway for even deeper prayer, the prayer that touches on the person’s deepest, most spiritual needs. And pray this way often, asking Jesus to meet this person’s greatest need of all — an intimate relationship with God as his or her heavenly Father and with Jesus our brother.
When we pray this way, we join ourselves to Jesus, the great High Priest who stands before the throne of God (Hebrews 4:14-16). We also open ourselves to the charisms and gifts that God wants to give us to help that person. Our prayer is transformed from just asking for what we think they need, but for the Holy Spirit to show us what we should be praying for in their lives.
When Therese’s brother Robert was diagnosed with stage-four cancer, she began praying by offering up to Jesus all his medical treatments. She gave God her fears too. Then she asked God to show her Robert’s deeper needs. This was difficult, partly because Therese and her brother spoke to each other only a few times a year, at best. “What can I do, Lord?” she prayed. Then she sensed God saying, “Why don’t you be his sister and call him!” So, she committed herself to call Robert every Sunday. God’s compassion and healing touched them both over the three years between his diagnosis and the time of his death.
Another way to enter into evangelizing intercessory prayer is by meditating with a photograph of a person, imagining Jesus approaching him or her. Notice the affection Jesus has for the person, and imagine them embracing. Describe his or her need, and then listen for what Jesus might say. Be careful to also thank Jesus for the big and the small ways that he is already active in this person’s life.
Still another way to pray is to imagine this person inside their home. Imagine Jesus knocking at the front door, a door without an outside knob. All of a sudden, the condition of the door doesn’t matter. As we pray, Jesus passes right through the door and puts his arms around this person. And the strength of his love inspires that person to accept Jesus and the grace of his salvation.
– This article was taken from the June 2020 issue of “The Word Among Us” magazine, wau.org. Used with permission. The book “Sharing the Faith That You Love,” by John and Therese Boucher, from which these articles were adapted, is available at www.bookstore.wau.org.
Photo: CNS photo | Lisa Johnston, St. Louis Review
A young woman prays during a pilgrimage in Arlington, Va., on the eve of the March for Life in Washington.
