Pray Like Jesus In Tough TimesÀpẹrẹ

Thirteen years ago my rancher husband, Craig, was wrongfully convicted on six felony charges of animal abuse related to the death of six calves and an aging bull in a two-day blizzard. Oddly enough, the judge seemingly had it in for Craig from the first day of the two-week trial. This played out in many different ways. 

The judge would not allow auction records admitted into evidence that showed Craig got top dollar for his cattle during the same period. The judge also mocked two large animal veterinarians who testified in Craig’s behalf. And he refused to allow a University of California, Davis veterinary school professor to testify—the foremost authority in the western United States on treatment of beef cattle. He would have testified that of the two animals necropsied, one had twenty pounds of feed in its stomach and the other had a high level of colostrum—both were healthy animals. 

Craig did not get prison time, but he was put on probation and was given a huge fine, requiring Craig to sell down his herd. We handled the appeal ourselves, and two years later the judges of the California Court of Appeals were unanimous in overturning the conviction. 

It was an awfully tough season, and for many years I harbored unforgiveness in my heart. In others words, I was not praying as Jesus did.

Jesus uttered three prayers that we know of from the cross. The first of those is “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). The soldiers pounded the stakes into his hands and feet and then raised the cross to a standing position. And Jesus asked his Father to forgive them. The word them here may be more widely inclusive. We can speculate that Jesus also had forgiven the soldiers and Pilate and Herod and the religious leaders who had rushed his arrest and trial to a quick conclusion. But perhaps the word them could also be extended to others who have mocked his name or the faith in general throughout history.

Jesus demonstrated that the forgiveness prayer brings about freedom—not only for the forgiven but for us as well as we let go of the injury and trust God for the results.