Pray for others to have ‘divine appointments’

Fifth in a series

By John and Therese Boucher |  Special to The CFP

When our daughter, Anne, was in college, her apartment caught fire. The flames stopped just a few inches from Therese’s homemade quilt at the foot of her bed. We prayed by first thanking God that she was out of the house at the time. Then we visualized Jesus at the foot of her bed as the fire raged. We prayed and worked with Anne to replace her belongings, and to feel safe again. We asked God to enfold her in a new blanket of his loving-kindness. During a visit later in the week, we found out that the fire chief had stood in that same spot and said, “I don’t understand why the whole room didn’t go up in flames! It should have!” His words and our visit were actions that put flesh on our intercession for Anne.  
Intercessory prayer calls us to slow down and focus on the needs of one person at a time. Our neighbor Joe was petrified about what would happen to his mother in a nursing home as the COVID-19 pandemic deepened. He could not visit her because of state restrictions and lived more than 150 miles away. We asked Jesus to show us one specific thing that we might pray for. We were inspired to help him explore options about what he could regularly do: call on the phone, write a letter, send small gifts, make a video call.  
Pope Francis points out that intercessory prayer almost always leads us to direct action. “In our Christian life too, dear brothers and sisters, may prayer and action always be deeply united. A prayer that does not lead you to practical action for your brother — the poor, the sick, those in need of help, a brother in difficulty — is a sterile and incomplete prayer.” (Angelus, St. Peter’s Square, Sunday, July 21, 2013). 
Scripture uses the Greek word “Oikos,” meaning “household,” to describe the people with whom we interact regularly — family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. These are the people we should pray for first, the people who already are, or who we hope soon will become, our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is what Jesus did when he prayed with Peter’s mother-in-law and when he prayed for all his apostles at the Last Supper.  
 Choose a few individuals to pray for regularly. Pay particular attention to anyone who is not a churchgoer or who has a broken or sporadic relationship with God. Be open to the unexpected. People who are ready for a spiritual change often are experiencing major transitions that challenge their beliefs: the death of a loved one, a new job, a divorce, a marriage, a serious illness, or financial difficulties. These circumstances can become “divine appointments,” times when God can be present in a special way. 
Alice’s daily morning prayer is, “Jesus, please send someone into my day with whom I can share your love and your word. Help me recognize the opportunities you give me.” As she did this, she was surprised at the idea that it might be God who was sending her an annoying woman — appropriately named Grace — who would come up to her desk at work every day and talk with her. First, Alice asked God to forgive her for being inattentive and judgmental with Grace. Then she prayed for the strength to listen to Grace every day. Over time, the two became friends, and they often evangelize together: Once they invited two carloads of people from the office to a healing Mass in Alice’s parish! “Annoying Grace” had become “Amazing Grace” because Alice took the time to pray and pay attention.
In our next article, we will explore how missionary evangelizing moves us from the first step of “praying” to the second step of “caring” for others.

(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.) 

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