Article June 9, 2003 Issue

Beyond tears: PRAYER during the evening news

By Gloria Harrison

As A KID , when I would read or hear Jesus' words, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15), I used to wonder—how could I possibly go into all the world? This puzzled me for a long time. Finally, I began to see a way I could spread the good news that every child of God was valued. I could go into the world—with my prayers.

I thought of Jesus. He was sensitive to human needs of every kind. A deep hunger in the hearts of ordinary people reached out to him—the hunger for a word from God, which would give them hope and confidence. Something to live for and to live by. The Bible shows no needy person being hidden from Jesus' lovingkindness. He said: "Two sparrows sell for a penny, don't they? Yet not a single sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge. The very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matt. 10:29, 30, J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English).

That hunger for God is in the hearts of people everywhere and always. And it is possible for each of us even now to feel God's presence as intimately as though we were alone with Him. To feel His lovingkindness for ourselves and for people everywhere.