Empathetic Prayer

It is every traveler's nightmare. You see a baby/toddler getting on the plane. You hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Sure enough, barely up in the air and the baby starts screaming. I am not talking about light screaming either. I am talking about gasps of air of silence to get the full effect and then blood curdling screaming.  You know what I am talking about. Thankfully it was a short flight (Boston to Cleveland), but the baby was screaming virtually the entire flight.

Initially, I put my head phones on trying to tune it out. But this was so loud that it could not drown it out. Then I went through a phase where I thought "what is wrong with these parents - can't they calm that kid down?".  How quickly I forget as the parent of three children that the best of us can be completely helpless when this type of screaming starts. Then I turned to my young co-worker and asked him if he was sure he wanted children.

Then something amazing happened. The Holy Spirit said to me as clear as a bell - "Why don't you pray for that family?". This may have seemed like a trivial thing to pray for. Doesn't God have bigger crises to deal with than this screaming baby on a closed fuselage somewhere over the northeast?  Apparently not. I call this empathetic praying - supplication that happens in everyday circumstances. So I prayed and prayed hard - like it was a life or death matter. I asked God to calm this child and give her parents a break (the rest of us needed the break too so it wasn't totally selfless). I prayed hard - kid still screaming. I prayed again. The child stopped abruptly. Now I am not saying that my prayer had anything to do with it. That is the mystery of prayer. God is completely in control but He wants us to pray as if it depends on us. We get to enjoy participating in this mystery of life in the seen world.

I learned something from this as well. I have asked God to show me people from His lens. Empathetic praying - being aware of others. A friend asks for prayer - I shouldn't slough it off. I pass an accident on the road already being taken care of. It looks bad but God says pray for that family. I sat next to a girl on another flight on her way to her fiancee's funeral who was tragically killed in a car accident. She is carrying his child.

This is something that can be learned and developed as the Christian man matures. I am nowhere near where I would believe God wants me, but I am thankful He has showed me my warts and turned it into the practice of empathy.