Sharing a prayer request

By MARY JANE HOLT
Contribuing Writer

I’m about to do something really unusual. Yeah, I know, you probably figure I tend to do and say a lot of things that are unusual. May be.

I will tell you I have mixed feelings about this one, but that little voice inside me says do it. So, as you know by now, the little voice rules.

I have decided to share with you an e-mail that I recently received. Read it first, then I will tell you why I’m sharing. Here goes:

“Mary Jane, I have read your columns for a long time and cannot begin to tell you what an inspiration you have been. I trust all is well with you. At this point I realize I have a selfish request, but would you please pray to the Jesus we both love, and ask that he be with me. I have just learned I have breast cancer and I have some major decisions to make. I have some wonderful friends who are praying, but I wanted you included. Over time, as I read your column there was the sharing of tears, laughter, ups and downs. Of course you did not know this, and I guess that’s the disadvantage of the writer when their words do not bounce back from the reader and the applause cannot be heard. You keep writing from the heart.”

Wow! I thought. What lovely things to say! I really appreciated her note and I will pray for her. And that’s why I’m sharing the note with you. I want you to pray for her, too. Please.

“Why her?” you might ask and not hundreds of others who have asked for prayers. I don’t know. You don’t even know her name. I don’t either. But I know she is apprehensive. I know she is about to feel pain and insecurity and maybe a financial strain. Life changes may lie ahead. Or the whole ordeal that’s ahead of her may turn out to be a breeze, even a blessing.

Of course, it could also be the most gosh awful thing she has ever been through. It’s not for us to say how an experience should unfold and what the outcome should be. I used to wish it was. I have learned not to make such foolish wishes.

It is enough for us to simply ask that Jesus be with her. In fact, that is all she has asked for. Yeah, read her request again. That’s all she asked me to pray for.

I don’t care how many friends or family members may stand near, when we are hurting, really struggling over certain issues or going through exceptionally trying times, it is just a fact that sometimes we feel alone.

Now, that’s what I am asking you to pray for this lady. Pray with me that no matter what happens, she will never feel alone. Pray that she will be bathed in the light of our Father’s love. Pray that she will actually feel the thoughts and prayers of those who love and care about her, that she will be wrapped in those prayers like a blanket of soft, cuddly white love.

You may wonder why I am not asking you to pray for healing. Why not pray for the cancer to disappear? Why not pray for a specific outcome?

Well, the truth is, I don’t go there. And I like the fact she did not go there either.

It’s strange the way my philosophy, or theology, is changing, or evolving, with time. It’s not that I am growing cynical. Not at all, though I will admit to having been through a few brief periods of cynicism.

It’s just that I have come to believe that things unfold or happen as they do for a purpose. Every experience teaches us something, and sometimes it is something really special, so I have decided I’m not wise enough to call the shots. “Thy will be done, Father” is a really good line!

So let’s take our prayers a bit further for this lady who emailed this request to me. Let’s pray together that the coming days, weeks, and months will be a very spiritually educational time for her, her family and friends.

Got that? We pray that she will never feel alone, not even for a second, and that the experiences ahead will teach her and her loved ones a few great and exciting spiritual lessons. Join me, please, in this prayer.