I was asked by an atheist about the effectiveness of prayer for the good of our loved ones this week. With that, he also asked what God does to ease the suffering of others. Here is a slightly edited version of my response:
Prayer is fellowship with God to express our hearts and share in His love. We ask God for His grace, mercy, and protection for our loved ones, but we understand it may be in His plan to allow them or us to suffer. We’re just sharing our desire with God.
I suppose prayers like this are selfish prayers. All prayers should end with the understanding that we want God’s will, not ours to be done.
For the Christian, suffering builds our faith, it causes us to turn to God for solace and healing. It turns our hearts and minds more toward Him. It builds our dependence on God. The times I’ve been closest to God and learned the most were times of trial. These prayers to bless our loved ones can also be understood to be requests to ease their suffering.
Some suffering is eased by God directly. A friend’s lumps in her breasts disappear after prayer. The doctor could not find them in the pre-op exam when they were there just a couple of weeks earlier. Another friend had colon cancer diagnosed, but it was no longer there after prayer. There was just a dent where the tumor had been. Just last week another friend’s wife had a mass on her brain that had been there for six months disappear after six months of prayer.
Some of the pain in the world is to be eased by God’s children. God has provided for their pain by commanding His people to help the suffering and the poor. Many of us do that both as individuals and corporately through churches and parachurch groups. My wife and I give at our church and support a child, Melvin, in Kenya through Christian Missionary Fellowship. Part of our contribution goes to his education. Some also goes to providing clean water to Melvin’s village and training for the local farmers to improve their crop yield. This helps ease their suffering as well. Another friend has visited Melvin’s village and seen the money is being used wisely. We need to be good stewards.
Some of our current tithe goes to benevolence for those in the church as well as food for the homeless, the alone, and the frightened. We locally provide and deliver more than 500 free Thanksgiving turkey dinners to abused women’s shelters, homeless veterans and other individuals in town, people just getting by and can’t afford a decent meal, shut-ins, anyone who asks. The holidays are lonely times for many. This helps a little to ease their suffering.
Our church also has a food pantry from which we distribute to people who come to us for help. The pantry is stocked through the gifts of food by individuals in the congregation.
Operation Christmas Child is connected with Samaritan’s Purse uniting people in churches worldwide to pack gifts of new clothing, toys, and personal items for children in third world countries. Last year, individuals in our church alone provided about 250 of these packages.
All of the above is done free of charge or obligation to the recipients, of course, and most of those involved get no recognition for their kindness. These gifts and acts are done because of our love for Christ and desire to obey Him. Remember, this is just a small sampling of the work being done by individuals and churches around the globe. All this is done in the name of Christ all to help ease the suffering in the world.
Helping others creates gratitude and an elevation of the recipients’ situations
and acts of sacrificial benevolence by the giver. Through these acts a broad
cross section of people are drawn closer together. These are good things.
Of course, some people are in pain as a result of their own ungodly actions and are feeling the justice of God. Sometimes He’s just trying to get their attention and turn their eyes to Him.
God’s people are called to ease the suffering of others. We are His instruments to do so. Unfortunately, many Christians don’t reach out, though, so there is suffering without relief for many.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 