There is so much written on prayer that I hesitate to write yet another reflection on the topic again today. But with all the books, messages, podcasts, home décor signs, songs and scriptures calling us to pray why do we devote so little time on our knees?
Do we pray because God commands us to, or is it from an inner compelling that forces us before His throne of grace? Do we casually lift requests like grocery lists letting God know what we and others need? Do we mention names like a classroom roll call identifying those with both physical and spiritual concerns? Is there any passion at all in our prayers?
Current prayer requests shared with me seem not only innumerable, but humanly impossible. I look over the emails and messages I've received and each one requires a touch from God. Many are time sensitive. Health concerns. Will the dad be well enough to attend his son's wedding? Will he be here? Marriages dissolving. The wife weary and the husband still battling temptations after years of addiction. Daily physical provisions. Will she be able to pay the bills this month? Living accommodations uncertain and stressful. How long will we have to carry two mortgages? Insecurities overwhelming. What will it take for her to rest in the knowledge of Your unfailing love? Eyes that need to be opened. When will he see what he's doing? Hearts that need to turn to the Lord. How long Lord until she responds to You?
Just a prayer sampler. My journal pages are full. My heart is heavy. Tired moms. Frustrated fathers. Exhausting children. Wearisome relatives. And we haven't even stepped beyond the front door. Add in global news, world leaders, natural disasters and we can feel buried under the burden of difficulties leading to hopelessness, our prayers appearing futile. And it's unending. Even as I've been writing this a friend, feeling helpless as her daughter in another country sits at Emergency waiting to see a doctor because of unrelenting pain, sent me a prayer S.O.S.
But, what if our prayers really were an S.O.S? Did you know that this Morse code signal was never meant to be expressed as three individual letters? It was a continuous string of three dots, three dashes, three dots with no spaces or full stops. Maybe that's one of the vital problems with our prayer life. We have far too many spaces and full stops. The urgency that sent out the distress call of an S.O.S. doesn't fill our prayers. We become casualties of war not because we aren't wielding the right weapon, but there is no earnestness in our petitions and we give up too soon.
Are our prayers mediocre? We say we want to see God move, but a sentence or two doesn't indicate much desire. Is there an imbalance between the miracles I long to see and the cries to God that proceed them? God won't put off those who persevere. May the weight of the need keep us waiting on our knees crying out to Him, filling the Lord's presence with continuous cries of faith day and night. No spaces or full stops!
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