I was blessed to visit a property that housed widows and street children here in India. Pastor Samrat pays the rent, providing shelter, meals, and clothing for these people.
We were quickly broken into two groups: women and children.
The children sang loud songs and danced along with a few of my teammates. They squealed with happiness and laughed at all the silliness they were witnessing. It was joy in the purest form on that side.
On my side there was a familiar quietness of grief and expectation, a stillness that these women carry with them. They glanced longingly to the side, toward the children, and half-smiled at their resilient joy. Although the women’s ages were very different, from 20’s to 90’s, they had much in common. They stood, bearing a beautiful mixture of endurance and weakness, a frailty that is dear to the Father’s heart. They were familiar with suffering, and they needed to be comforted yet again.
It was then that I received ‘the look’ that means it’s time to share a message.
I read 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort that we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”
I talked about the Holy Spirit’s comfort, and how at my weakest I felt God’s presence and peace. I told them how precious they are to the Father, and how much He loves them with an unfailing love, and they are worthy daughters of the King. Then I shared about the power of prayer:
‘When somebody calls your name, you turn your attention to them. Even when somebody is having a conversation in the next room, if you should hear your name, your ear strains to hear the rest because it’s about you. What do you think happens when you call on the name of Jesus? If He were dead, He wouldn’t hear you, but He is very much alive. He is listening and watching over you. He turns His ear and His attention to you when you call on His name, because it’s about Him. He loves you, and He wants you to call on Him. He wants to talk to you, and have a relationship with you. He wants to give you the comfort that you need. He wants to be in the same room you are so you don’t feel alone.’
I told them that we didn’t just receive comfort for our own good; we receive comfort so that we can comfort others. We have a testimony and a task to pass it forward. I told them to encourage each other every single day. I told them that in the same way God hears their prayers, He also hears their prayers for each other.
‘When you see someone in need, crying or sick or anxious, you should pray for them. You have to come together. Jesus wants unity here.’
I asked them to join hands so we could pray for each other.
Here I imagined they would form a circle, each person grabbing 2 hands, one to the right, one to the left, and we would close in prayer… but that’s not what happened…
God wanted to bless me and affirm me with these women.
As I extended my hands forward and tried to motion for them to make a circle, they obstinately did not.
One grabbed my left, another grabbed my right, then another grabbed my left hand also, and then another grabbed my right… on and on… until all of their hands were somehow piled onto my two hands, in the most beautiful huddle. There were younger hands and wrinkly hands, their brown hands covering my comparably pasty ones. I looked down at this, flustered and surprised by the lovely result of a miscommunication.
This is so much better than a circle!
I prayed, getting the biggest lump in my throat, held it together during the prayer, but I couldn’t hold it in afterwards.
I cried. I thanked God for the beautiful image I will never forget, of all those hands holding me and holding each other. I believe with all my heart that God’s hands were in that huddle as well.
When we prayed, it was just like heaven.
That prayer shook the spiritual realm. There was so much light, and the Father smiled down, and said ‘That’s it, see? Unity, on earth as it is in heaven.’
I walked away certain that they would pray for each other from then on, and confident they understood that their prayers are heard by the Living God who loves them.
I was blessed and affirmed of my calling to women’s ministry, knowing the Holy Spirit will give me the words to minister.
He will heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.
He will lead them by still waters and restore their souls, and they will cling to Him who is good.
He will hold them by the hand,
the same way He’s holding mine.
They will reach for His hand,
the same way they reached for mine.
