May 28, 2013
Be Alert
I recently attended a
Christian Writer’s Conference where the Director would break out in prayer during
announcements, introduction of speakers...and during technical difficulties. No
doubt she has a personal habit of always talking to God, but I have to tell you
that after three and a half days of being in the audience I felt like a
bobble-head. I couldn’t always tell whether she was taking to the group, or talking
to God. Once I had my head bowed reverently when my friend Betty poked me in
the ribs and said with a chuckle, “She’s
done praying.” On other occasions I thought I was listening to instructions
for the day, the Director would end her comments saying, “And all God’s people said…” I have to laugh when I think of God
watching the spectacle of the Director and me as we both applied Paul’s
instructions on prayer. The Director, praying on all occasions with all kinds of
prayers…and then there I was with my eyes open and alert because I couldn’t
tell her prayer from an announcement. “And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
(Eph 6:18 NIV)
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----I tire of endless prayer. Especially my own. After a while I begin to wonder if it is not being done to prove something to the self even more than to others. Somewhere in the middle of long lists of maladies attached to unfamiliar names I begin to realize these are all just the tip of a giant iceberg of misery needing God’s attention. The rest of the iceberg could have been offered for prayer, too - all the remaining maladies known within this one praying group which never were meantioned. And beyond that group’s knowledge is a whole sea filled with countless more. So if we were being real about praying sufficiently, why are we not spending every moment of every time we are ever in each other’s presence praying for these countless maladies? If prayer is so important, why do we end before everything has been prayed?
-----Then the director you write about demonstrates another of my perplexities with prayer. The first time in my life I took myself to church for real was to a Pentecostal one. A lot of young people went there. That’s probably part of why it felt so full of vitality. That’s probably part of why these kids prayed seemingly before every motion they made. Sometimes I felt like shouting out, “Did you pray before you crossed the room? Did you pray yourself through the door? Be sure to pray your way down the hall! And don’t forget to pray before you put on your coat.” It wasn’t really that bad. But these kids were praying about the selection of their apparel when dressing for the day, about what to eat, where to go, when to go, how to go. I remember one of them engaged in prayer for several days about which color of car to buy. I thought God gave us minds to figure out these things.
-----If there is any sincerity in these prayers, and there surely is far more than I give them credit, God has got to love them. For that’s what His Word tells us to do. That’s what praying without ceasing is, partly. For I think it is even more. I think prayer is an additional way of thinking. Everyone thinks to himself; thinking is a form of inner dialogue. I believe there is also prayer in the form of thinking to God as much as thinking to self while thinking to self. There are dimensions to prayer I have not even begun to study, let alone to learn. I want to get there without it being something to prove to myself.
-----I am very thankful to God for all the folks who pour themselves into prayer, even prayer about what color of car I might buy. But I’m still not so good at prayer. I hold myself back whenever I get any perception of self reflection because of my praying. Fortunately, as my days go on I’m holding myself back slightly less rather than more, since I don’t need to be worthlessly blathering. I need to pray from what I know about what God‘s beloved around me care. It not only invites God’s participation into our lives, it frames our minds with fellowship.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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