PARADOXICAL

I learned this the hard way: It's especially hard to do intercession prayer for non-believers and half-believers. Whenever I pray for anyone's serious concern, I've learned to accept that a little sacrifice in return would be a given. This must be what that phrase about Christ's suffering being not enough means. The intercessor somewhat suffers for the prayer-requester. The prayer-requester often gets his wish - at a high price. I don't get surprised, though, if the person is a non-believer and he doesn't get his wish at all. A little investigation often reveals that the person does not subscribe to the Christian teaching at all or at least part of the time. I get dismayed when I learn that, because healing presupposes belief. Without belief and all the necessary things it asks (repentance, practice of faith, etc.), the intercession prayer and the sacrifice it entails are pretty much useless, from the point of view of the requester and filled with trials and tribulation on the intercessor's part (though eternal merits are not bad a reward).

posted by Resty Odon  # 2:05 AM