Secondly, Paul says whenever he prays; he makes requests for all of the Philippians with joy. Too often our prayer life can devolve into a whine list to God about the things we want in our lives. I am not suggesting that we do not take our needs to God in prayer but that perhaps our focus should be on praying for each other rather than ourselves. Notice that Paul is not saying that whenever he prays for the Philippians specifically he manages to pray for all of them. It is WHENEVER he prays at all! I think the second message God is sending here is to make our prayer life be about the people He has blessed us with. Once again, it adds value to our hearts for them. It allows us to be focused on the needs of others instead of ourselves. That is how Anna lived her life.
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Ephesians 6: 18 (NLT)
Persistent prayer for all believers. For everyone in our lives. For the people that matter the most to us that we often overlook. That we have seen day in and day out so we assume they are always going to be there. Prayer works and it strengthens your relationship with God and ultimately with the people you are praying for. Your connection to them and their needs are strengthened by the act of praying for them.
So we bury a woman today that I loved very dearly. One of only a few in my lifetime that I shared a love with. One time recently she said to me that if she loved me and I loved her, why isn't love enough. At the time I told her that it wasn't that simple. In retrospect, maybe I was mistaken. Maybe we make things more difficult than they really are. But that was Anna. She didn't make things more difficult than they were. So filled with love that love should have been enough. It should always be enough.
What remains the best way to truly honor the love with which she lived her life though? I think the verses God has given me today highlight two key principles. First we must stop seeking for blessings and start appreciating the ones we already have. That those blessings are found in people not things, not material possessions, not any of the inanimate things that fill up our day but rather the people that fill up our lives. That we give our flowers to people while they are still alive. That we take the people around us that we love and we tell them that we love them. That we increase their value in our lives daily by stopping whatever busyness we are facing to thank God for them every single time that we have pause to think about them at all. That our thought process becomes our thanksgiving. That we appreciate people and tell them so. That we love people and tell them so. Those are all things that Anna did so well in her life. Everyone who met her felt that she cared about them, even if they only met her one time.
Secondly that we pray actively for the people God has blessed us with. That through the act of prayer alone we strengthen our relationship with God and with the person we are praying for. The Bible says that the prayer of the righteous availeth much. This life should not always about us, which grates against the "me-centric" society we live in. If we ever could live for and pray for those around us how much more valuable do we make ourselves to each other?
Any problem in any relationship can usually be traced back to selfishness in some form. What if our entire basis for dealing with each other became selfless? If our thought life became a vehicle for thanking God for the people we have. The people we love. If our prayer life become about interceding for the people we have. The people we love. How much closer would that bring us to God and to each other? At bare minimum, that would bring us to a place where when God forbid we are burying someone, we know that we have no regrets regarding them at all. No room for the enemy to come in and accuse. No ground to concede.
That should be Anna's legacy. A life led in love; concerned about other people before ourselves. A thankful life always blessing others and praising God for what we have, not what we think we do not have. A prayerful life full of intercession for others; strengthening our relationship with God and with the people we love in our lives. That was who Anna was and will always be. I pray we pause long enough to learn through her death, how to live during life. Amen.
Reverend Anthony Wade December 12, 2011
Postscript: As the sun sets on your beautiful life Anna I want you to know that I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you at the end. To let you know how much you meant to me and those around you. To let you know how positively you affected all of our lives. To let you know that on your worst day, you were always my better half. I love you baby.
