This past Monday I had an MRI of my knee to determine what can be done to make it better. Because I have had MRIs in the past, I was anxious because I am claustrophobic. What a pleasant surprise when I learned that I would only be in the machine from my waist to my ankles,

The attendant told me it would take about 35 minutes and to let her know if I had any problems or concerns. She asked me what kind of music I would like for her to play. I chose “country music,” but the country music she played wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.

So I decided not to worry or be uptight, but use my time praying. It turned out to be an uplifting and encouraging time of meditation and prayer. As I have done in other times of extended personal prayer, I addressed all three members of the Trinity. We pray to the Father through, or in the name of Jesus; and the Holy Spirit helps us with our praying.

I began by addressing God and soon moved to reminding myself of how often in the Bible he is spoken of as Creator. That spurred my talking with him about my knee in specific as well as everything else that was going on around me. After acknowledging him as Creator I moved to my favorite designation of Father. Calling him Father was assuring.

I then prayed to Jesus and kept in mind three titles for him. I thanked him for being my Savior and quoted to myself the words of the hymn “Blessed Assurance.” Jesus is our savior, but he is also our Lord. As important as it is to have Jesus as our Savior, it is equally important to know him as our lord. That reminded me of the need to do some confessing and I was more than willing to do so. Those thoughts led me to my final designation for Jesus: Friend. Remember Jesus told his followers he was their friend – in John 15:13 he affirmed “greater love has no one that this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” In John 15:14 he told them “you are my friends if you do what I command.” In John 15:15 he reminded them “I have called you friends.”

I concluded my time of prayer by addressing the Holy Spirit with several of the words describing his role in John 14-16: advocate, counselor, helper, comforter, and others.  Helper and comforter were especially meaningful as I thought ahead and what I think will be a knee replacement in the near future.

In retrospect I’m confident I’m not the first person to pray during an MRI. Even if some think it is an odd place to do so, I must disagree. Maybe we can be reminded that we can pray anywhere and anytime. I often pray while I’m driving – and if you’re wondering – no, I don’t close my eyes!

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