“He who labours as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.” (Saint Bernard).
We souls in this world are engaged in a spiritual battle.
This is spiritual warfare and this is real.
I have been reflecting on this fact because there was a time – prior to my conversion, which occurred through Grace and no merit of my own, while I was praying for my little nieve who was very very sick – when I would have laughed you out of the park if you had told me that spiritual warfare was a real thing.
At that time, the whole idea of warfare relating to spiritual matters seemed so far-fetched and out of control that I could not even bring to mind a part of me to accept that just as there is activity on a physical level in this world there is activity on a spiritual level as well.
It is not that I believed that there was no spiritual life. I certainly believed in angels and devils and God – I just did not have any practical or every-day appreciation of what they were or how they would influence my own life.
And then, I experienced a conversion of faith, and suddenly – no doubt thanks to the Holy Spirit – my eyes were opened wide and I was able to experience life anew. And when I say that I experienced life anew, I mean, that I was able to experience my SPIRITUAL life anew. And this new experience was the defining element that caused me to realise that there is in fact an additional dimension of life and it is that additional – SPIRITUAL – dimension that is in fact the most important and influential part of this earthly life.
You see, when Christ came to earth there were many miracles. Some people were cured of ailments and even brought back from the dead. And that is significant because I have been thinking about what the miracle really was. After all, a person who is cured or even brought back from the dead, will still die one day. So their cure and restoration of earthly life could not really be the purpose of the miracle. That would make the miracle pointless. Instead, the purpose of the miracle must have been SPIRITUAL. And that is really important. You see, the purpose of the miracle was HOPE. The actual miracle was HOPE.
You see we all of us will die one day – that is one thing of which I am certain – so the restoration of health or life is not the POINT of the miracle. That restoration of health or life is a signal for us to have HOPE in eternal salvation. Those miracles are a sign that GOD IS REAL and that GOD LOVES us and that GOD CAN DO ALL THINGS.
And that HOPE is – in itself – the miracle…
And I have been thinking about that hope as I go about my life and pray for the sick and the dying, because Saint Bernard said, “He who labours as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.”
And I was thinking today, that being able to life my heart to God in the every day, is possible the greatest fruit of HOPE there could ever be.
How glorious is my Lord and God, King of the Universe!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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