Disability and the Power of Prayer

By |Published On: February 18, 2014|Categories: News|

Cause for Life intern prayingThe power of prayer is a phrase used regularly throughout the Christian community. Many with disabilities depend on the power of prayer to strengthen them and encourage them on their journey. Some turn to prayer to relieve them of their disability. But when they come to the end of their prayer unchanged, what then? We read that God’s attentive eye sees even the little sparrow that falls from a tree (Matt. 10:29-31). Why then does it seem at times that the Lord is blind to our anguish? When prayers seem to go unanswered, some come to the conclusion that there is no God. They feel He has turned a deaf ear to their desperate petitions. But God promises to be with us each step of the way, even if our prayers for “deliverance” seem to go unheard (Psalm 62:5-8). George Mgoola is a paraplegic living in Malawi. He wasn’t born with his disability, but contracted poliomyelitis as a child, paralyzing him from the waist down. George has lived in a wheelchair for most of his life. Here is his outlook on prayer:

“I discovered prayer is… the oxygen of our spiritual lives. Every time I see someone with a disability, I am reminded of Simon of Cyrene who was forced to carry the cross of Jesus… Look at your disability as the heavy cross and yourself as Simon of Cyrene. Simon did not carry the heavy cross all the way… because Christ had carried it much of the way. Is it not a blessing to partake in carrying the cross with Christ?”

Many have burdens to bear and when we knock at the Lord’s door in prayer, the burden may not be lifted. But as George reminds us, we must seek the blessing in our burden. The power of prayer is in the intimate attention of our God. He is listening and waiting for our petitions. “Today” says George, “I challenge you to take your disability to Christ and see what He will turn it into.”

https://joniandfriends.org/a-vision-for-prayer/

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