Comfort through prayer

This is about finding comfort, and sharing it too.

2 Corinthians 1:3,4
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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
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who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

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There is a lot to be said about those two little verses.

When Jesus went into seclusion, leaving town, or going up the hill; he spent his time seeking the Father. He did not go up there to meditate, or even to decompress. No, he went to pray, and seek the Father *for comfort*.

When we are suffering, it does not subside. Sleep only delays it at best. It festers, and grows into a mountain that blots out the sun. Suffering does not find comfort in decompression or from meditation. Those things are for the physical body and mind, not the soul. No, our comfort comes in prayer, or in some cases focussing on holy scripture or passages of testimony. But for the sake of this context, we will say just prayer is necessary. (Jesus did not carry around dozens of scrolls to read from. And we rarely bring our bibles to work.)

The Father makes a point of over and over again having us come to Him. Jesus did, so should we. It is an act of faith to pray, and that faith can move the mountains that blot out the sun, and can cast them away. The Father looks at prayer as a righteous act, because faith is His. Faithfulness is afterall a fruit of the Holy Spirit, not a state of human conscience. Faith is of the Father, it is of the power of His Holy Spirit.

So we can say in confidence that there is power, holy power in prayer. And for that holiness to work through us, what do we know? We know that we have to set ourselves aside so that the Truth can live through us. As we know also that no kne can come to the Father except through that Truth. Right? Yes.

Comfort is derived from faithfulness.

When we have that comfort, others in suffering see it, and recognize it as power over our circumstances, Amen. And that is being a beacon in the darkness, setting an example for others to follow. When we seek the Father in our suffering, the comfort we receive is power that others want for themselves also.

As Christians; we treat others as we would have ourselves be treated. So when we receive comfort feom seeking out the Father, we bring that to others who suffer. We pray for each other:

James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other *and pray for each other so that you may be healed.* The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

James calls a person righteous, which is not possible without honoring the Law. But God sees acts faithfulness, and calls it righteous, and as I said earlier, prayer is a faithful act. So in that context, it is better said: *prayer by one who carries the truth within them; is righteous, as it is the power of God.*

Comfort by seeking the Father. Hours before his arrest, Jesus left to be alone, and prayed. He knew what was about to happen, and he even spoke of it to the Father, in a way that confirmed the commitment of the Father to fulfill His own will. Jesus was sent an angel to help him pray, to strengthen him. This is how the power of God works. It is complete, and it is ours through His Truth, when we deny ourselves and allow that perfection to reside within us.

We suffer because we are no longer of this world. Although we still sin, although we still are tempted, and although grace is a progress, we are still not what we were in the dark. We suffer because we deny ourselves, so that the authority that knows the Father's will; can work through us. And Jesus suffered, and therefore, so do we.

But seeking the Father in prayer is what Jesus did to find comfort, so we know that is what we are to do. And the comfort we receive is like a treasure, a drink of water in thirst, a piece of bread in hunger. And we share that comfort with others by praying with them, or over them, or for them.

Amen.