Painful Places

Prayer in painful places is problematic.  Pain is distracting.  We get focused on our discomfort or simply coping with the pain and we find it difficult to pray.  As I described in my last entry I had minor surgery to repair a hernia.  Minor may be the adjective to describe my operation, but not my experience of the procedure.  I was not myself.  I felt out of my "comfort zone."  Pain is pain and mine kept me very distracted.  It was hard to pray. 

There are many encounters with Jesus that help us in these plainful places.  In Luke 7 we hear the story of a most unexpectent believer.  We don't know his name, only his occupation.  He was a Roman soldier.  He loved the Jewish people and built a synagogue for them.  The Jewish leadership loved him and when he was in a painful place they wanted to help.  His pain was a servant who was sick.  He valued him highly we are told.  He asked some elders of the Jews to go to Jesus and ask him to come and heal his servant.  They gladly went and pleaded with Jesus to come.  The leadership of the Jews loved this military man.

Notice a couple of details in this account.  One, the servant was the one suffering.  Apparently it could be a sickness that leads to death.  There is a sense of urgency.  The place of pain for this servant was made greater because he was absolutely helpless without the help of others.  Fortunately he had a master, the Roman soldier, who cared for him.  But two, the Roman soldier, himself was in pain over this servant and it too was made greater because he felt helpless.  He felt so undeserving he could not even ask Jesus to come into his home.  We are told, when Jesus "was not far from the house the centurion sent friends to say, 'Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.'" 

Humility, it is a surprising quality when we come face to face with it, especially in people we don't expect.  The last place to expect humility in the first century, among the Jewish people, would be in a Roman soldier who was part of the occupying power in control of your country.  Yet, this soldier was not only humble, but insightful.  He goes on to describe that he is no ordinary soldier, he is one in a position of power and leadership.  Perhaps he is a Lieutenant or Major.  He knows what it is to get an order and have to carry it out, but also give an order and demand complete obedience.  He realizes that Jesus did not have some authority, but all authority.  He tells Jesus just to "say the word, and my servant will be healed."  When Jesus hears this he marvels that not even among the believing Jewish people had he found such faith.

Painful places demand faith.  We must believe that Jesus is in control and that we are still under his loving Lordship.  What is most helpful, though, is when we have others who intercede for us.  We need humble, insightful soldiers of prayer who go to Jesus for us. (Or send others to Jesus for us.)  What this soldier did is what prayer in painful places is all about.  He humbly intercedes.  That is our calling when we have servants who are sick; those in our own family, in our church, or even those we hear about in need.  We must value people enough to take them to Jesus, be humble enough to realize we are undeserving of this privilege, and yet faithful enough to know that Jesus has all authority and will do the right thing.

The story ends where most of the encounters with Jesus end, the servant is healed.  Painful places don't last forever, healing comes.  How helpful it is to have soldiers of prayer to turn to when we find ourselves in those places of pain, whether it be physical or mental.  I am grateful for all of you who prayed for me.  Let's practice that privilege of intercession and bring Jesus to those who are in places of pain.  It will be an act of compassion and an act of faith.  Jesus will do the right thing.  He will come to the one suffering and be with them in their painful place.