BEING THERE IN SPIRIT

"I can't be there at your special day, but be sure that I'll be there in spirit." I've said it and heard it before. I think we usually mean, "I wish I were there, and I'll be thinking of (or praying for) you." It's an admirable thought, though perhaps sometimes we Americans use it lightly.

As far as I can remember, there are only two passages of Scripture that talk about someone "being there in spirit," and they were both included in our readings today. In the first passage, Elisha knows about Gehazi's lies, and so confronts the sin when Gehazi returns with the money and clothes that he deceptively received. In the NT passage, Paul says that the immoral brother should be publicly discipled by the church when they assemble, and when Paul is present in (the S)pirit, and when the power of the Lord Jesus is present.

I think that "being there in spirit" sometimes happens today. Ellen has been suddenly awakened with a strong sense that something is wrong with a child, and it was true. I have heard that story from other mothers, too.

It is rather rare, but I have had some times of "being there in spirit" in much the way the Bible describes. I was studying late one night while in college, when I was strongly prompted to stop and wrestle in prayer for a close brother in Christ. I had the sense that he was going through a strong temptation, and he needed my prayer. I prayed for several minutes, until the urgency to pray had passed. Then I went back to studying. A couple of hours later (past midnight), there was a tapping on my window. It was my brother, who lived halfway across town, coming to see me! He had been out on a date, and was undergoing overwhelming temptation, and suddenly the Lord had given him strength for victory, and he was so excited about his victory that for "some" reason, he wanted to drive across town in the middle of the night to tell me about it. Of course, when I asked him about the time of the temptation, it was at the same time that I was "there in spirit." Together, God gave both of us a victory that night!

I don't know how prayer works, nor do I know the ways of God. But I know that occasionally when we pray for someone, we are "there in spirit" or "there in the Spirit," and God can reveal sin or trouble, and our travailing with someone can help them overcome, or else to confront the sin in a friend's life. I never want to abuse the occasional gift of knowledge that God grants by trying to manufacture it. But I don't want to avoid the work of helping another by my prayers when God prompts me to do so, either.

"LORD, let me be faithful in prayer, and honest in my words. Let me not promise to be there in spirit if I don't intend to put myself out in travailing prayer for someone. And let me do the work of joining my neighbors and family in spirit when I cannot be with them in the body. To You alone goes the glory, honor and majesty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God without end. Amen."
-ker