Attacked by the tiger?

Am I a casualty of the year of the tiger? Some fortune tellers would have said so. My father who was born in the year of the tiger is always nervous when the tiger year comes around. As far as I remember, fortune tellers foretold that tigers faced danger in tiger year. But this tiger year is different. They said it was the family member of the tiger that would be in danger. Well, in short, a doctor diagnosed me with breast cancer in April. Is this a fulfillment of the fortune teller's prediction, or was it a mere coincidence? I believe it's neither. God has a purpose for me, and the people around me, that I should be visited by cancer.

I thank God for the wisdom to follow the Ministry of Health call for women to get regular mammogram after 40 years old. I thank God for a doctor who explained to me and convinced me to have an irregular shaped fibroid checked further through a biopsy. The way I see it, it is a blessing that God arranged events to happen in such a way that a diagnosis of breast cancer did minimal disruption in my life. The cancer cell was still very small and confined to the small area. Surgery was minimally invasive. Recovery was fast beyond anybody's imagination. Adjuvant therapy was a breeze. Even though I was in the midst of final exam and final project at the time of diagnosis and surgeries, God saw to it that the last semester of my graduate school was not compromised. I am now in the last leg of radiotherapy, I don't foresee that things will go awry the rest of the treatment.

To prevent giving my father a mental blow, this has been kept from him. I don't know how long it will take from the publishing of this entry till news reach my hometown. I am praying that God will use this to rid my family members of any superstitious beliefs that have plagued their Christian walk.

I have not sorted out what God's purposes are. But I trust it will unfold itself in good time. I only know the tiger might be crouching ready to attack. However, it's not my body he is after, but the souls of people who believe in satan's deceits.

Petitionary Prayer

Prayer, which is the chief exercise of faith, and by which we daily receive God's benefits - John Calvin.

Many petitionary prayers have been offered in prayer meetings. Do these prayers change God's plan? Does anybody benefit from these prayers? Some are convinced the more prayers offered, the better the result, meaning the better the chance that the petition will be granted. For the person who has cancer, payers for healing, for strength, for faith, for protection and many more were offered customarily. The question remain, do these prayers change anything?

The belief in the effectiveness of petitionary prayer at a glance seem to be in contradiction with the belief in all powerful, all knowing, totally good and constant God. God is unchangeable. So asking him anything is a futile exercise, isn't it? This often lead to apathy in prayer life among Christians. I don't really know how things work in the heavenly realms with regards to petitionary prayer. The following is my recent reflections.

Prayer has a therapeutic effect that Christians can avail themselves without incurring expensive psychotherapy sessions. Prayers has been known to have the effect of relieving the praying person of anxiety. Indeed we are called to pray when we are anxious (Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God - Philippians 4:6). When I pray for my own issues, I am relieved from being the sole owner of the issues. Giving ownership of my problems and worries to God is such as a liberating experience. Essentially, in my prayers I said, "I know You knew and You have a purpose. But now You know that I know that You know. You are in it and I am calling on You to take over and carry out your plan accordingly. Everything is now in your hands." Then relief from anxiety comes. That's one of the benefit of a petitionary prayer.

Now, what benefits do those who pray for others receive? Could it be that there is a benefit to be in the fellowship of other people illness, suffering, and problems? Could it be the fact that they were spared, allows them to silently offer a prayer of thanksgiving? I have to admit that I have in many occasions thanked God for not knowing what it was like to suffer the way others had suffered. Could it be that praying for others give us a sense that we have done our part in the grand scheme of the situation? Both of them may be the benefits of praying for others. In my experience, additionally, praying for others provide a variety of topic of conversation between myself and God. It is something to talk about and it gives me a way to prolong an encounter with God.

The benefits of offering petitionary prayer essentially is not in the positive change it can bring about. But instead, it is in the encounter with God itself; that is the benefit for all who pray.