That’s how I found myself praying for my friend Deb who struggled with life-draining cancer. I joined others in prayer for years on Wednesday evenings in our church prayer gatherings and during late Friday night prayer watches with a few friends. Our church staff prayed faithfully, Deb’s small group prayed, we held 24-hour prayer vigils for her, we gathered in her home with elders and the prayer team. I also prayed fervently in my own home. There was no lack of loving and heart-felt prayer for Deb’s healing over many, many months.
Yet, she died. This was a hard one. It felt like defeat. Why would God burden me (and others) to pray so fervently for healing, only to feel like the battle was lost.
I know all of the obvious answers that are absolute biblical truth. God is sovereign. Yes, I know. God’s plans are always good. Check. I couldn’t agree more. Deb has now received her ultimate healing in heaven. Yes, I fully get that. God never makes a mistake. I believe that with all my heart.
But somehow all these truths were not the comfort I hoped they would be. In the moment of learning of Deb’s death, I found myself struggling with the reality of seemingly unanswered prayer. I wondered if I somehow missed the key to unlock God’s healing touch. Did I pray wrong? Was I not hearing the Lord in praying so fervently for healing? Should I have fasted more or prayed later into the night? I had a lot of questions that rattled my confidence in the hope of prayer.
The Mystery of God’s Providence
It wasn’t until Deb’s amazing funeral service that I understood how God applies all of our intercession, however He leads us to pray, for His glory. Before her death, Deb had planned and orchestrated every detail of her service so that there would be no doubt about her faith in Christ.
Hundreds overflowed the worship center and into the lobby to both mourn and celebrate Deb’s life. It was clear that many were not followers of Christ, and Deb had prepared well for them.
Pastor Bob Bakke’s message on God’s providence summed it up for me. My questions were answered when Dr. Bakke declared that every relationship of Deb’s had been orchestrated for that moment in time. Every neighbor in every area of the Twin Cities where they lived over the years, every hockey parent who ever shared a bleacher with Deb, every person she and her husband Joe met in their workplaces, every childhood friend, every family member—God had orchestrated this moment in their lives for Deb to speak to them through the power of the gospel. I have never heard a more clear declaration of the power of Jesus Christ to save and redeem. And Deb’s very words echoed through the crowd: “What are you waiting for?” There was no question about God’s purposes at that moment.
The response was profound. I witnessed firsthand the power of Jesus’ words in John 12:24: “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.” God was giving Deb the glorious opportunity to share her heart with multitudes of people who were graced by her life. In that moment, I understood. And I knew that Deb, who was now with her Savior, fully agreed with God’s purposes in her death.
God’s providence framed perfectly the reason why I was so burdened to pray for healing even up to Deb’s last breath. When we contend in prayer and are fully obedient to all the intercession that God has placed on our hearts—there is no lost battle. Every prayer counts—and God applies them all to His perfect will. If He burdens you to pray for the miraculous, pray without fear of the outcome. Pray with abandonment. He is working out miraculous things you may not see or understand at the time.
Simply pray on, friends, with boldness and confidence in the mysterious and glorious providence of God.
