There is a scene in C.S. Lewis’s novel, “Peralandra,” (part of his Space Trilogy) in which one of the characters talks about receiving a gift not directly from God but through the hands of several others. He says, “All is gift. I am Oyarsa not by His gift alone but by our foster mother’s, not by hers alone but by yours, not by yours alone but my wife’s- nay, in some sort, by gift of the very beasts and birds. Through many hands, enriched with many different kinds of love and labour, the gift comes to me. It is the law. The best fruits are plucked for each by some hand that is not his own.”
When we are in need, it is good and right and fitting that we cry out to God, that we go to Him directly. When we recognize Him responding to the cry of our hearts it is a true and rich blessing. But the point C.S. Lewis is making in the above scene, is that there is a richer blessing that comes to us when we receive God’ grace not through our own action, but through someone else’s action on our behalf.
This reception of grace through the love and labor of another is what happens when the faithful intercede for one another. One striking example of this is recorded in the Gospels when Jesus is approached by a centurion seeking the cure of his servant. In Matthew’s account of the miracle it says, “When he entered Capernaum, a centurion appealed to him saying, ‘Lord my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.’ He said to him, ‘I will come and cure him. The centurion said in reply, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed…And Jesus said to the centurion, ‘You may go, as you have believed, let it be done for you.’ And at that very hour his servant was healed,” (Matt 8:5-8, 13)
The centurion’s servant is lying at home suffering, in Luke’s account of the same incident the servant is described as close to death. He is unable to seek Jesus on his own. We don’t have any indication in the Gospels regarding whether the servant asked his master to approach Jesus. It seems unlikely that a servant would be so bold. Luke tells us that the servant was valuable to the centurion. Perhaps recognition of his servant’s value was sufficient motivation for the centurion to approach Jesus.
Whatever the case the centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant, and in that very moment the servant was healed. The servant did nothing to earn that healing. He was lying at home, one moment desperate and in need, the next moment perfectly well. It was pure gift. The healing came from Jesus, who is the only one who has the power to heal. In that sense the servant received a gift from Jesus. But it was not from Jesus only, rather it was a gift also from the servant’s master who asked for the healing on his behalf. Rather than the gift being diminished by not coming directly from Jesus, it was enriched because it was sought by another who valued the servant.
When we intercede for one another, when we seek God’s gifts for another, we are likewise enriching the gift that God bestows. God’s grace is sufficient on its own always and everywhere. However, in His great generosity, He allows us to add our love to His and He allows this addition, paltry in comparison though it is, to matter. It is good for us to be in the habit of praying for others. At times it is good to do so anonymously, keeping our intercession hidden, but at others it is right and appropriate to share with them the good news that someone cares enough about them, values them enough to seek God’s grace for their life. When a person receives healing, whether that be physical, mental, emotional, relational, or spiritual, through the prayers of a friend they receive the double blessing of experiencing God’s work in their life and of knowing that they are loved, considered worth laboring for, spending time on in this life when time is precious.
When you are in need, as we all are at times throughout this pilgrim journey, by all means run to God. He is powerful to save and always ready to hear our needs. But consider running to those God has placed in your life, it is by His design that they are there, and He wants to work through them for your good. And do not hesitate to pray for others, there is no need to wait to be asked, intercede for those you value. Know that in doing so you are offering a rich gift.
Prose for the sake of Poetry 