"Keep your prayers to yourself"

   So it happened again. My son, who is in a wheelchair, and I had just finished attending an amazing concert from one of our favorite bands. Before leaving the venue, I ran to the bathroom while he waited for me and checked his phone. Up from behind him appeared a stranger who tapped him on the shoulder. She introduced herself and then proceeded to "pray" for him. Her prayers, not asked for, consisted of asking God to heal my son's "legs, heart, spirit and faith." As he sat there shocked that she had put her hand on his shoulder, she prayed that God would heal him and cause him to be able to get up and walk. Then as fast as she came, she was gone.

  There was no conversation. No pleasantries exchanged about the amazing concert we just experienced. No chance for my son to say anything. Just dash in---pray---and get out of there fast.

  This has happened to him time and time again. And each time it happens the same thing crosses my son's mind. "They dont think I am complete. They think that I dont measure up. They think because I am in a wheelchair, I need their prayers!"

  My son doesnt look at himself that way. He feels that God made him just perfectly and that there is no need for change. He is very confident in who he is and how his life is going. He feels strongly that his chair is NOT him.It is just the way he gets from point A to point B. Period.

  But some people dont view him that way. They feel sorry for him. Pity him. Want him to be whole! Who said being able to walk makes you whole? Who said not being able to walk makes you less of a person? Who ever said it was alright to go up to a complete stranger and start praying for them for something that they don't feel needs to change?!

  Lack of faith is sometimes brought up in their prayers. That if he only had the right kind of faith, he would be able to walk. Some people have even suggested he get up and walk after they had finished praying! How dare they make my son feel like he lacks faith and that is why he is in a chair! How dare they.

  Both my son and I are born again believers. We believe in the God of the Bible. We believe in miracles. But we also believe the verse that tells us we were "fearfully and wonderfully made". We were both made the way God wanted us to be. We are both His amazing creation. I'm not just a little bit more amazing because I can walk. We are BOTH amazing.

  So let me educated you a little. If you see someone in a wheelchair, or that has a different ability, don't assume they need you to pray that the different ability be taken away. Assume that they are ok without you making them feel less of a person, or in need of healing. Assume that they would like to meet you and talk about the concert, not be made to feel that they dont have enough faith and that you can help them out by sending up a prayer to God. God knows all about them. God knows all about my son.  Keep your prayers to yourself.