I have been thinking of writing a post about prayer for a few weeks, but avoided it for whatever reason...partially because I just don't truly understand it. And yet, I feel like God keeps bringing me back to the topic of prayer over and over again.
Why the popcorn? Because, just like prayers, I don't 'TRULY' understand how it works. I toss a bunch of these tiny kernels into our air popper, turn on a button that makes them whirl around in a tornado of heat and then all the sudden, they pop. Into popcorn. It's so simplistic, but makes me (a person who loves to know the WHY and HOW to all things) really wonder how in the world with enough heat, these kernels explode, not into smithereens, but into something edible. Of course, despite the fact that I don't understand this chemical/physical process, we eat it and enjoy it just the same.
And that is why I'm finally giving in to the nudge to write this post on prayer. Just because I don't understand it doesn't mean I get a pass to avoid discussing it.
This is the part I don't understand: how does it work? That about sums it up. Truly. How do our prayers affect the God of the universe in the outcome of certain situations? Do our prayers really have an affect? Do my prayers become more effective when said in a certain order? Or more powerful when said at at certain time? With certain people? Only for certain topics? How in the world does a prayer from little 'ol me, sway the actions of the Creator of the universe? Why does it seem to 'work' at sometimes and not at others? We know parents that plead in prayer for the healing of their sick child, only to end up heartbroken. We know young professionals praying for a job, only to be discouraged. And then there is the seemingly trivial story you hear about how God provided just the right couch, placed alongside the road for someone. The span of prayers from desperate to seemingly trivial is wide. And it can make this person doubt at times. But that's when I remember an older pastor telling us to 'doubt our doubts'.
I have to remember to doubt my doubts because I have seen the evidence of prayer over and over again. And aside from that, the Bible tells us over and over and over again to 'PRAY'. Not to figure out which muscles to heal in which order to heal a man crippled from birth, or come up with fractions to feed 500. Don't confuse prayer as a lack of action. It means prayer becomes part of our action. Because the Bible also assures us that at any given moment, Heaven is working on our behalf for His Glory and our Good. And somehow prayer is part of that equation. Besides all the reasons and verses I could quote on prayer, it comes down to this. Jesus, the Son of God, prayed. If it's good enough for Him, then it's good enough for me, right? Actually, I get the sense that Jesus didn't pray just because it was a good thing to do (like holding the door open for someone, or yoga, or serving at a soup kitchen). I wonder if He prayed more out of a need for His Father vs an obligation. And perhaps that's all I need to understand about prayer.
But wait. There's the empirical evidence, too (which seems somewhat ironic, given that we're talking about prayer here). How can I explain the time two different people in two different places prayed for me at the same time? How can I explain when my friend felt led to pray for me during surgery, when she didn't know that I had just lost a LOT of blood and required four transfusions? How can I explain the effect of my 24 hour prayer guard that battled on my behalf while unexplainable things went wrong and my life seemed to be under attack? There's so much I don't understand and can't explain, yet one can't argue with the results.
My 24 hour prayer guard....we left a copy of this with my mom while she was watching the kids during that first surgery so she could know how we were being covered in prayer. This is one the most humbling pieces of paper that I have ever received.
To be very honest, this is what may be the hardest obstacle I have to overcome in prayer: Prayer requires hope. And I've learned that hope is not something to be taken lightly. Hope takes more energy, courage, discipline and trust than I ever imagined. When I was diagnosed with cancer, hope seemed so distant compared to death. At times, I needed people to hope and believe on my behalf, because I didn't have the energy to hope. It's a scary thing to hope and risk disappointment or failure. And it takes strength to continue to hope again in something after facing disappointment. Which is why our hope has to be anchored in the greater foundation of prayer.
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| This is from Gloria Furman's book, Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full, where she quotes Martyn Lloyd-Jones. |
I don't think I have provided any more clarity in the matter of prayer in terms of exactly how or why it works. But maybe this can convince you, the next time you feel a nudge to pray, to go ahead and do it. Anytime. Anywhere. Even while popping popcorn.
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