Mud Prayers

“‘He put mud on my eyes,’ the man replied, and I washed, and now I see.’” - John 9:15b

In reading John 9, I’m struck by the mud. Why didn’t Jesus just tell him to be healed or simply put his hands on his eyes to heal him? There must have been some purpose in the way he got down on the ground, used his own spit to make mud, then rubbed it on the man’s eyes. Then Jesus told him, go wash in the pool of Siloam. “So the man went and washed and came home seeing.” -John 9:7

Earlier this week my husband, Ross, was at his typical Monday night soccer game when his friend Mike went into cardiac arrest. He was without a pulse for several minutes as they tried to revive him. Ross and other members of the team were instrumental in helping him get the care he needed and I’m super proud of them. But all week our entire community has been crying out to God to heal Mike’s body and mind. We’ve been crying out for him to wake up and go home healed. My heart goes out to Megan and all of his family who have been faithfully praying by his bedside, waiting for him to respond. I can only imagine what that’s like. I could imagine myself going from hope to despair every thirty seconds.

So, as Christians, what do we DO in this time? Yes, we offer every kind of support we can possibly think of. But mainly we PRAY. We go to battle in prayer, joining in the very real yet unseen realm where angels and demons are also battling. That’s the space we enter when we pray. Prayer is not passive; it’s active. Prayer is taking the natural (our bodies) and joining them with the supernatural to partner with the Living God to change things in the cosmos. Does He always answer in the exact timing and way that we want or think is best? No. But does he always answer? I think as Christians, we must pray believing and trusting that He will always respond. This takes faith and patience, especially when we can’t see Him answering. Especially when there’s pain. God is a God of the process and we don’t always get to see the ways He is working. But that is exactly what He is doing. It has to be if He is good… if He is a loving Father who is not indifferent to our cries. In Matthew 7:9-11, Jesus says “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” As followers of Jesus, we pray with hope and we even grieve with hope because the end of the story is beyond what we can see.

In the miraculous account of Jesus healing the blind man, he still makes it a process. He takes something in the natural (mud and spit) and combines it with his healing touch. He also invites the man to partner with Him in his own healing by going and washing in the pool of Siloam. The blind man had to trust and obey to receive the healing. Did the man do anything to deserve this kind of healing? No. He didn’t even know who Jesus was before that moment. But he had to go and wash off the mud as an act of trust. Jesus could have healed him with a word, but he did it with a process. He chose to partner with the blind man.

I am realizing more and more how much of a privilege it is to pray when I see it this way. God could just do what He does as He sees best. He is God after all, and that would be more than fine. But instead, He invites US to partner with Him as His sons and daughters in healing and shaping the world. He seems to want and enjoy our participation in the Kingdom work He is doing. Prayer is participation.

Recently I heard the phrase in my head, “The way you pray depends on your view of Me.” Or something like that. For a long time it was not hard for me to believe God is loving, good, and kind, yet it was very difficult for me to spend lengthy or regular time in prayer if I’m honest. I could spend hours reading my Bible, journaling, reading books, listening to podcasts, etc. But I’m ashamed to admit that prayer didn’t feel as productive as those other spiritual practices so I didn’t give it as much time. I’ve more recently been on a journey to see prayer as DELIGHT, a hopeful opportunity to partner with God in the work He is doing.

What if prayer is not only a way to turn our attention and faces to the Living God for our own sake, but bending down low, getting our hands and knees dirty, and helping Him direct things happening in the unseen? This makes it a lot more exciting too! We live in a place and moment in time within the safety of our comfortable houses when almost no one has to be courageous and fight in battles. Those were stories from our grandparents’ generation or events we see on the news. Fighting in a real battle is far from our reality. Until we realize it’s not. I’m more convinced than ever that we are meant to get down in the mud in prayer, because we ARE in a battle, it matters, and God delights to partner with us.

But this takes courage. Especially in a culture of deconstruction of faith, it’s brave to ask God to do things and change things and restore things that feel impossible. Walking away from God when he doesn’t give you want you want in the moment you ask is understandable. Yet, it is still short-sighted. (*And if this is you, I encourage you to wrestle with God like Jacob in the night and like David in the Psalms. He can redeem and heal anything). God’s view is eternity. He already knows the end of the story. We may not always receive the kind of victory we want to see this side of heaven, but the answer is always VICTORY in Him. His promises are YES AND AMEN.

We can ask God for exactly what we want, right here, right now. We don’t have to be afraid of disappointment or shame because God LOVES it when we ask Him for everything we want. We are His beloved children after all. So ask Him for every little thing on your heart and mind! (Then continue to do that for decades. Eventually our prayers become aligned with the very nature of God).

Let’s wake up every morning and get down in the mud in prayer. There may be things blowing up all around you or it might be a beautiful day. But we can still take courage and BELIEVE that God is waiting and ready to hear our cries and answer. There is a battle going on in the unseen, whether we acknowledge it or not.

It’s times like these, when we are crying out to God to act and heal and restore that we are most intensely aware of our need for Him to move. It’s understandable that we wish He would answer and heal instantly, and He can. I can’t say I know why He doesn’t do that more often. I wish He would. But right now, we praise Him for each little answered prayer and we trust Him in the waiting. If you are in a season of suffering, loneliness, or despair, also know that God delights over YOU with singing and is honored by the slightest turn toward Him. He is right there with you.

And when you don’t know what to pray, start with what Jesus said to say:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from the evil one.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

Father God, pour out your mercy over Mike right now. Flood him with Your grace and heal every part of his body and mind. We ask for the supernatural peace of Jesus to flood Megan and every member of their family, that you would speak tenderly to them, hold them close, and give them hope. We praise You for the ways you have already been healing his body and ask the same over his mind.

May our prayers and praise be heard and answered. Draw us all into a deeper communion with You as we cry out to our Abba Father. You are good! You are the Good Shepherd who leaves the ninety nine to go after the one. Go after the one and heal Mike completely. May he go home healed and whole.

In Jesus’ Name!

Amen. ❤️