Listen

When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

John 11:32–37

Think

I have a friend who has a hard time talking about prayer. His mother died of cancer when he was a teenager. Throughout her illness people prayed for her, but she didn’t get better. My friend is still frustrated by those prayers. He wishes they had worked, that his mom was still alive.

Prayer, I’ve come to learn, doesn’t always deliver the results that we want. I think it is still worthwhile to pray for ourselves and for others. We can pray for what we hope will happen, though it might not. The time we spend praying can still bring love and light into a dark time.

I think Jesus wept for my friend’s mother, the way he wept for Lazarus. Maybe sharing tears with someone we love is the best prayer. Prayer reminds us that we are never alone. We have each other, and God is with us, always.

Mike Angell

Pray

God, I'm grateful that you never leave me alone. Help me to share your presence also with others. Amen.

Go

We all fall short of the glory of God.
But being a follower of Jesus means taking the risk
That the resurrection-informed life is the better way.

Take the risk that your prayers might be powerful,
That love may in fact be the strongest thing of all,
Worth giving all you have that it might be known.

The glory of God will light your way.