what would it look like if we, when we got up off our knees from petitioning the star-breathing universe creator, set about preparing as if we knew that prayer was gonna be answered?
Jeff prays fervently for opportunity and support for his passionmission: to serve those in prison.
Cait's on her knees asking for opportunity to continue playing the sport she loves.
Melanie prays ceaselessly that her momma will be healed from the mass on her brain.
Lynn and Joy pray - for years - for God to provide the way and means and opportunity for them to engage (full time) in His passion, seeking lost people...
Matt prays - on-his-face type prayers - that his lovely wife has an uneventful pregnancy and delivers a healthy new baby.
cool. that's what we are supposed to do... right?
but what if Jeff 'gets the call' and receives the funding, but he has not prepared and studied and educated himself to be ready to minister to the imprisoned?
what if Cait gets a tryout and then a scholarship to play college ball, but has failed to work out and 'live' in the gym and get in the best shape of her life?
and what if Melanie's momma comes home from MD Anderson after successful treatment, but Mel does not have the house 'ready', cleaned.... spic and span and bright and happy?
what if they bring new baby home, but Matt has failed to buy the baby bed and paint the new nursery?
preposterous, right?
really?
how do you live? how do you pray?
well, yeah, but.... you know, God sometimes doesn't answer our prayers like we want... so, we are left to try to explain that to ourselves and each other.
I, for one, am not sure we have gotten this one completely right...
we have assuaged our stupid curiosity by telling ourselves that God sometimes just doesn't answer prayers like we want Him to. we sleep better at night thinking that God is God and we are not and He decides who gets their prayer answered and who does not.
and - in a way - that relegates him to the role of a fickle, impotent wizard-of-oz-like buffoon behind the curtain conjuring and deciding and faking out.
I have written (in this space) about God's omnipotence and how we cannot see the huge mosaic, but only our little piece of it. and how God makes decisions based on 'the greater good' (for lack of a better phrase)...
and I still stand by that....
But I've been thinking a lot about prayer lately... and I wonder if ours is the weak link.
Otherwise, how do we 'explain away' passages like Matthew 21:21-22?:
"I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt,
not only can you do what was done to the fig tree,
but also you can say to this mountain,
'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
or Mark 11:24?:
"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer,
believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
or how 'bout James 5:16:
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective"
Could it be that we don't know how to pray, or God doesn't know how to answer? yeah, the same God who literally BREATHED the Milky Way into existence? I'd err more on the side of US not praying with belief..... wouldn't you?
Yeah, I get it... sometimes we DON'T see the big picture... and we pray selfishly... and maybe God reacts accordingly to prune us and teach us... or in the best interest of a greater good...
but I wonder....
what if we prayed for our church buildings to be filled with seekers...
oh, wait.... what if we even took the next step - beyond the praying - and actually 'outflowed' into our community and helped people (you know, the Jesus model: feed the hungry, visit the sick and imprisoned, etc), THEN ACTUALLY PREPARED for the FLOOD of seekers FLOCKING to our "doors" ??!?!?!
we GOTTA stop praying for rain and leaving our umbrella at the house!
God is the God of BIG. and we typically pray such teeny tiny prayers... shame on us.
let's resolve to pray GINORMOUS PRAYERS! Then let's prepare to move with GOD as He answers them!
how would that look?
1 comment:
It would look different today than last year and still different than next year. I find evolution in my prayers. Changing to look like something I could not have created
Post a Comment