My coffee was just how I like it best.
Straight, black and hot.
I sipped it and watched a London morning come alive.
My blackberry Z30 suddenly rings.
It was T.
T is an alcohol addict, and a drug addict.
He was so drunk I had to strain my ear to grasp his words.
He said he needed me to pray with him. Through drunken, but nevertheless heart wrenching tears, he pleaded with me to pray with him then and there. He explained to me how he had drunk four litres of cider and felt like he was dying. His voice was laced with desperation. Ive known him for a long time. I feel like his desperate struggle with multiple addiction is nearing its end.
And.
I think of all the times I've sat with him, sometimes in the street, sometimes in a police waiting room, once on a bridge persuading him not to jump, sometimes over a bowl of soup. I think of all the times I have prayed for and directly with him.
And here we are.
His life seems to be fast spiraling towards its end.
I prayed a prayer over him over the phone.
I heard him crying. A shuddering, pleading cry.
His drug worker had arrived so he had to go.
On Saturday last I preached about prayer at a prayer training day at a London Church. Tomorrow I fly to Latvia to speak to the Salvation Army about the importance of intercession. Im convinced and passionate about the vital place that praying for others should hold in life of the church.
Yet.
T is dying.
Ive prayed like a caged lion for him and I know others have too.
Humanly it looks like the prayers are making no difference in this case.
I long to see his chains fall off. I long to see full healing come to him. I long to see heaven engulf and evaporateTs hell.
But he's dying.
The twin evils of alcohol and drugs are choking him to death.
Someone asked me the other day, "how do I keep praying when my prayers don't seem to be answered?"
As I lay my blackberry on the table in the coffee shop. I understand what the person meant.
But.
Heres the thing.
God is God.
He knows exactly what he is doing. And sometimes we just wont get it.
God is God.
I prayed a deep from the heart prayer for T in the coffee shop. And Far from getting discouraged. I felt a burning desire to up my prayer rate. Because I know that we are required to pray. Required to intercess for the broken. I know that God breaks chains. I believe that I have to keep focussed and keep going. Faith is like that sometimes. I think of the times I've seen remarkable answers to prayer, as well as seemingly none answered prayer.
None of that matters really.
God is God.
He has it all covered.
Hearing Ts desperate cry over the phone far from deflating me, only served to fan the flame of passion I have make it my life's work to pray for and help those who desperately need a saviour.
If anyone is reading this and is maybe having trouble believing that prayer even works.
This word is for you.
God is God.
Let him be God.
We cant be God.
We need to do a Micah.
He has shown you O mortal what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
I encourage you today to pray.
Keep praying.
Even when it is difficult to pray.
T needs all the justice and mercy he can get.
And I humbly leave him in God's mighty hand.
And there is an never ending ocean of need that requires us to pray even when we cant see the point.
God is God.
He always wins, he always listens to our prayers. He always has it covered.
Blessings today.
