“…and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:19 (NAB)
I recently returned to doing the Ministry of Care, a volunteer ministry in the Chaplain department at the hospital where I work. Once a month I visit patients, serve communion and then say a prayer for them. It’s a volunteer ministry I did for many years but stopped it for the three years during Covid. Doing it again after three years felt good, and I quickly returned to the rhythm of going room to room. After serving communion to one elderly man I ended by saying the same prayer I always end with, which is one that I composed myself. There is a line at the end of the prayer in which I ask God to let the patient know that God loves him. I’ve found that after I say those words, people have tears in their eyes. Even though the prayer also asks for healing, spiritual renewal and peace, there’s something about asking God to let somebody know that He loves them.
Today’s scripture says that knowing this truth surpasses all knowledge. We can do everything and go through almost anything, when we know that God loves us and is with us. To know the love of Christ surpasses knowledge, because it’s not a head knowledge that is academic and comes from books. It is a knowledge within our spirit and soul, that comes from earnestly seeking Him. “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)
Something within a person changes when they hear words praying for God to let them know that He loves them. Only He can let them know, and He does. It amazes me how those words resonate and touch hearts, but I believe it’s because God responds to two people agreeing in prayer. When a patient is sitting in a hospital room, they are God’s captive audience. All the distractions of life are set aside, and they are well prepared to hear from heaven. One older lady told me she used to be active in her church, but that she hasn’t even been to church for many years since she cannot drive anymore. Imagine how special it was to have someone pray for her in her hospital room. As I meditated on the faces of people I visited yesterday, and how those words in the prayer touch them, I started to wonder what their relationship with Jesus was like before being admitted to the hospital. It might have been the first time anyone has ever prayed for them out loud. I wonder if some people have even forgotten that there is a God who loves them at all. Some patients may feel that God must not love them enough, or they wouldn’t be hospitalized with a particular diagnosis. To hear the words, “Let them know that You love them,” is like turning a light on in a dark room. If I could only say a one sentence prayer over someone, that would be the prayer. God wants to reveal His love to those who are broken or crushed in spirit.
Whatever we go through or will go through in our future, we should include God in the picture, because He is always with us. He hopes to get someone’s attention especially while they are alone in a hospital room, but wherever we are, He desires to communicate the love of Christ to us and to say to all of us, “I am right here, and I love you.”