Death has not held her

Recently I have been blessed to get to know a remarkable lady. This week she will celebrate her 90th birthday, and though using a 'walker' still gets out and about from her own home.

Yet what makes her more remarkable is her story. For some time ago (I think nearly 30 years back ... when she was a mere 60 years old), she became seriously unwell and in hospital. Other patients on the ward have told her that one day the monitors ceased to give any reading. Her memory is of being in a tunnel with a bright light at the end, with voices calling her forward - but also the voice of a relative calling her back. Medically she was revived, but deep down she knew that she had 'more to do' back here in this life.

Extraordinarily she recalls how her father had a similar experience. He had told her of how he apparently died, had a vision, and a sense of being called back. Such things seem to run in her family!

Her story, however, traces back even further to baby-hood tragedy. Her mother's first pregnancy resulted in the still-birth of a brother. She was conceived and born, but within six months her mother became seriously ill and passed away, leaving a distraught father with a baby girl. The grandfather took them in, but sadly she was unwell too - at just 6 months old. The doctors told the grandfather that they did not expect her to live: tragedy was about to compound. Yet relatives have since told her that the grandfather did not accept the doctor's prognosis, and proclaimed: "She will live!". Of course she survived, and is now hitting the age of 90!

This lady has some kind of clear faith: believing in God and she prays every night, thankful for her life. Yet Christologically it is not orthodox - her recounting of both her and her father's death-bed visions do not assert Jesus as Lord. Interestingly both her grandfather and her father originally claimed to be atheists, but the grandfather changed his tune after the survival of his baby granddaughter, and apparently the father was seen by other relatives to be praying.

Whatever the exact theological standpoint declared through her telling of her story, it is clear that death has crouched near on more than one occasion but has not held her! It also seems to me that the Spirit of God has been curiously at work in this family through multiple generations, albeit without explicit profession of Christ from them (so far, at least!).

It is my privilege to get to know this lady, and freely talk about the resurrected Jesus with her. I can talk with her about faith in Christ, and I have much to learn from her incredible still-unfolding story.

The Emphasis of Ask

As said earlier: Prayer is the Job - allocating focussed and our best time to seeking God and 'doing business in the spiritual realm' for the area or work that you are involved in. Within that prayer work Jesus gives the clear invitation to 'Ask':

• John 14:13 - I will do whatever you ask in my name ...
• John 14:14 - You may ask me for anything in my name ...
• John 15:7 - If you remain in me ... ask whatever you wish ...
• John 15:16 - ... I chose & appointed you ... so that whatever you ask in my name ...
• John 16:23 - ... my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
• John 16:24 - Ask and you will receive ...
• John 16:26 - In that day you will ask in my name.
  

This seven-fold repeated (there is a clue in itself!) invitation comes in the context of Jesus sending the Spirit (chapters 14 & 16) and abiding in Him (chapter 15). Perhaps we can say that 'abiding in Him' (chapter 15) is cocooned in the promise of sending the Spirit (14 & 16).

Note that it is all 'in my name': even the 15:7 and 16:24 phrases that don't have the 'in my name' words that all the others have, are still clearly in the context of being in Him and therefore asking in His name. As we sit or walk in prayer, seeking the face of God, the mind of Christ, and the manifest presence of the Spirit - on behalf of the area or work we are involved in - we can ask for whatever is needed (that is, what Jesus Himself would desire) for that area or work.

So let us allocate proper time and energy to prayer - with our area of work in mind. And within that, seeking the mind of Christ, not be afraid TO ASK! Ask extraordinarily, ask boldly! Go on ... Jesus invited us to do this. He declared it as an operational practice for us. He marked it out as a promise for us. He even chose and appointed us to do this.

So ... ASK ... in His name ...