SOMETHING TO HOLD ONTO

One of the games some Jesus followers play is the game of denial.  They pretend that to have faith is to never be discouraged, but we know that isn’t so.  This week I have found myself face-to-face with several people who are going through tough stuff.  They are discouraged to the point of tears.  They are barely able to put into words their weariness or sadness or anger.

I’ve shared with them something that appeared on my electronic “door step” via a daily devotional from Upper Room Daily Reflections.  In one recent devotion author Susan Arthur (devozine) points us towards the novel The Scent of Water by British writer Elizabeth Goudge.  A teenage girl struggles with mental illness and her mother finds her daughter’s struggle terribly embarrassing.  The entire family attempts to hide the girl’s struggle like some awful secret.

One day an older pastor comes to visit.  He looks as out of place at the family tea as the girl feels out of place in the world.  She confides her struggle to the older pastor.  She tells him everything.  She confesses that she worries about totally losing her mind someday.

The pastor listens quietly.  Then, as he is leaving, he promises to pray for her daily.  He says, “There are three necessary prayers, and they have three words each.  They are these: ‘Lord, have mercy.  Thee I adore.  Into Thy hands.’  Not difficult to remember.  If in times of distress you hold onto these, you will do well.”

So I share those three necessary prayers with you.  I find them helpful.  Anne Lamott says there are really only two prayers: “Please, please, please” and “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

But I have found comfort, strength, in those three necessary prayers: “Lord have mercy.  Thee I adore.  Into Thy hands.”

And I find power, liberation, salvation, healing…whatever word you want to use… when I realize how God holds onto me in Christ even when my grip on God  -and my faith-  falters.

Maybe these three necessary prayers can be something for you to hold onto this week. Or maybe you know someone who is looking for something to hold onto?

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark