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A man who prayed

Cecil E. Burridge

Mervin was a man who prayed. He was a member of an evangelical church which he had not attended for years. He had multiple sclerosis and lived in a Mennonite nursing home where I often visited him. I was his pastor.

Mervin had learned early in life that human beings can actually talk to God. One of the greatest blessings in the Christian life is the privilege of talking to our Heavenly Father in prayer. We can daily bring our needs, our praise and our most heartfelt desires to God; and He who delights to give good things to His children assures us that He will respond according to what He knows is best for us.

Every day, Mervin talked to God – not about himself, but about others. He knew he would never be cured of his paralyzing affliction, but he never felt sorry for himself. When I asked him how he felt about spending the entire day in a wheelchair, he replied, “Well, sometimes I wish things were a bit different, but this is the way it is. I just make the best of it and take it day by day.” He was cheerfully dependent on the Lord for everything.

Because of his affliction, Mervin was required to sleep on his left side one night and on his right side the next. When he was placed on his right side, he slept soundly all night long; when on the left side, he slept not a wink. He spent his sleepless nights in prayer.

On the wall next to his bed, Mervin had asked his friends and helpers to fasten pictures of Christian missionaries. They were systematically arranged in three columns – Africa, India and South America. On his sleepless nights, in the half-light of the quiet room, Mervin would look at those missionary pictures and pray for them one by one. Truly marvellous things must have taken place on various mission fields as a result of this man’s prayers, because “the fervent prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

Mervin knew that God sometimes refuses to grant our desires, yet he prayed on. God may say yes, He may say no, or He may make us wait for a while. Our requests may be right, but the timing may be wrong. The prayers must go up anyway. Mervin knew this, so he kept talking to the Lord. He had learned to rest and trust in his Saviour.

Mervin had a wonderful prayer ministry. It was his habit to intercede on behalf of fellow believers and for those not of God’s family whom he knew personally. In this, he followed Paul’s example: “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians 1:9).

Mervin couldn’t get to church, but he could pray and read his Bible. He was faithful to do both. When he was seated in his wheelchair, his Bible and a Christian book were always tucked down by his side. He wasn’t able to feed himself, but he could move his right hand sufficiently to open a book and hold it on his lap. Mervin spent many hours alternately feeding on God’s Word and praying for others.

On those occasions when the chaplain of the nursing home had to be out of town, I took his place as leader of the Bible study group there. Every session ended with each participant taking a turn at prayer. Most of the prayers were short and ended with a personal request – except Mervin’s. Mervin’s prayers were always prayers of praise, of love for God, of thanks for salvation in Jesus Christ, of intercession for others. Mervin never prayed for his own well-being.

Then one day Mervin was taken seriously ill. When I visited him in the Intensive Care Unit, he was hooked up to a heart monitor, there were wires attached to his chest, tubes were inserted in his arms and up his nose, and he was in an oxygen tent. I looked at all this medical equipment and prayed for the dear brother. Then I said, “Mervin, how do you feel?”

“I feel awful! But I know I’m in the hands of the Lord. If He wants me out of here, He will make me well again, He will put me back in my own room in His good time. If not, He will take me home.”

Mervin went home to be with the Lord five days later.

All these things happened 30 years ago. Perhaps in heaven Mervin has met some of those missionaries for whom he prayed so fervently.

Cecil E. Burridge is a retired pastor living in Barrie, Ont.

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Last modified December 11, 2000.

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