A friend is so depressed he can't concentrate on anything except the illness which has plagued him for seven years.
We talk about his illness and the hope that God offers through the scriptures. But my friend says he can't get away from thinking about the fact he has not been healed.
What comfort and hope can I offer?
In the end, I think there is only Jesus. Just Jesus.
I remember reading how Richard Wurmbrand, author of Tortured for Christ, felt closer to Jesus than ever before while suffering from torture in his Communist prison cell. He was aware of the very presence of Jesus.
There is the vivid picture in Acts 7 of the Christian leader Stephen being stoned to death and crying out: "Look! I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
Jesus knows our suffering and his heart goes out to us.
So, I am encouraging my friend to constantly call to mind Jesus. Like the writer of Hebrews 12, I am urging him to fix his eyes on Jesus.
When I feel I can't pray, I simply picture Jesus with me as he promised in the scriptures. I don't speak to him, I simply rest in his presence. And I find peace.
One of my favourite Bible passages is Psalm 27:4:
"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple."
Gazing upon Jesus is a tonic for my spirit.
Over many decades, I have been drawn to "practicing the presence of God", the title of a wonderful little book by Brother Lawrence, a 17th century French monk. Brother Lawrence carried on a constant conversation with Jesus, offering everything he did to God as a love-offering. He did this even as he washed dishes in the monastery kitchen.
Similarly, Rick Warren, a leading Baptist pastor and author, says he invites Jesus into everything he does - even the most everyday things. Joyce Meyer prays to the Lord as she goes about her tasks.
All these things are very good. They draw us closer to the heart of God.
But sometimes even uttering words is too much.
Then, like the psalmist David in Psalm 27, I simply "gaze upon the beauty of the Lord".
Just Jesus. He is enough.
We talk about his illness and the hope that God offers through the scriptures. But my friend says he can't get away from thinking about the fact he has not been healed.
What comfort and hope can I offer?
In the end, I think there is only Jesus. Just Jesus.
I remember reading how Richard Wurmbrand, author of Tortured for Christ, felt closer to Jesus than ever before while suffering from torture in his Communist prison cell. He was aware of the very presence of Jesus.
There is the vivid picture in Acts 7 of the Christian leader Stephen being stoned to death and crying out: "Look! I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
Jesus knows our suffering and his heart goes out to us.
So, I am encouraging my friend to constantly call to mind Jesus. Like the writer of Hebrews 12, I am urging him to fix his eyes on Jesus.
When I feel I can't pray, I simply picture Jesus with me as he promised in the scriptures. I don't speak to him, I simply rest in his presence. And I find peace.
One of my favourite Bible passages is Psalm 27:4:
"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple."
Gazing upon Jesus is a tonic for my spirit.
Over many decades, I have been drawn to "practicing the presence of God", the title of a wonderful little book by Brother Lawrence, a 17th century French monk. Brother Lawrence carried on a constant conversation with Jesus, offering everything he did to God as a love-offering. He did this even as he washed dishes in the monastery kitchen.
Similarly, Rick Warren, a leading Baptist pastor and author, says he invites Jesus into everything he does - even the most everyday things. Joyce Meyer prays to the Lord as she goes about her tasks.
All these things are very good. They draw us closer to the heart of God.
But sometimes even uttering words is too much.
Then, like the psalmist David in Psalm 27, I simply "gaze upon the beauty of the Lord".
Just Jesus. He is enough.
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