Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Pray For One Another

,There was an awkward silence after the pastor of our small church invited members of a visiting youth group to the front of the room to pray for the rest of us.  It wasn’t an open invitation for prayer that our pastor was making, but an order to receive prayer from these kids.  Immediately I could sense a feeling of outrage and pride both in myself and other church members – these were just a bunch of kids.  It was an older congregation with very few new believers, and most of us had been walking with God for at least ten years.  Most of these kids however, while enthusiastic had only just recently come into a relationship with Jesus.  As I sat among the rebellious congregants the Holy Spirit began to minister to me about my inability to receive from other believers.

I had been in ‘prayer lines’ countless times before, where members of the church would receive prayer from visiting pastors and evangelists.  In many of these meetings I watched in amazement as people I knew were healed, filled with joy, and received prophetic words as hands were laid on them.  I couldn’t deny that something real was happening to these people that couldn’t be explained away by psychology or self deception – and I had to try it for myself.  Of course when it was my turn to be prayed for invariably nothing would ever happen.  As the years passed I became frustrated when people I knew all around me left some of these meetings filled with joy and excitement – but for me it was just so-so.

I began to ask God what my problem was and thought about every area of my own personal walk with Him.  As far as my prayer life was concerned I couldn’t have been praying more and had learned to be in constant dialog with God throughout the day.  I spent a fair amount of time reading the Word, and as far as my conscience was concerned I felt there were no glaring areas of disobedience in my life.  I loved to worship God – and could consistently tap into a deep sense of His Presence as I sang to Him.  But for all I had, those around me were clearly experiencing something greater in these meetings.  During one meeting a deeply anointed evangelist laid hands on me as I prayed to God asking to receive from Him – and there was a long pause as he kept his hand on me as if to say, “I have something to give you… why won’t you take it?”  When he left I knew what my problem was… I could receive from God personally, but not from God in others.

In my mind I knew that I could receive from God because He was absolutely pure and untainted with human imperfections.  But as far as people were concerned – they were all flawed and even the most anointed evangelist was still just a man.  On the day however that those kids stood alone in the front of our rebellious church my spirit groaned within me as the Holy Spirit rebuked me sharply saying, “Who are you to look down on them?... They ARE Me.”  Instantly the scripture flashed in front of me, “Insomuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.” –Matthew 25:40  I had always viewed that scripture only in the context of giving, and never in the greater context that every believer literally represents Jesus Himself.  Scripture says in Romans 8:9, “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

I suddenly realized that the reason I could never receive from others is because I was trying to receive from a person instead of Jesus in that person.  Feeling ashamed for my thinking I got up from my seat in the church alone while everyone else remained seated.  I stepped in front of a little teenage girl who I knew in my heart genuinely loved Jesus – and as I closed my eyes I prayed, “Lord, when this girl touches me I am going to receive from her as if you were touching me Yourself.”  The moment this little girl touched me I felt a wave of God’s Power hit me unlike anything I had ever felt, and my knees buckled.  Filled with God’s Joy, I left that day with a new appreciation for the Body of Christ.  Jesus is still on earth today through all of His people!  When we really believe the truth of this, every single believer becomes an amazing asset for ministry towards one another – and the scripture that says, “…pray for one another, that you may be healed” takes on a whole new meaning. (James 5:16)