Bird by Bird

Sometimes it seems like an overwhelming task to pray.  There is so much going on, that either praying or succumbing to utter despair appear to be our only choices.  Sometimes praying is about the only thing we can do.  Where can we even start?

For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.  2 Chronicles 20. 12

In Bird by Bird, her classic book about writing, author Anne Lamott shares a story about her younger brother when he was ten, his head bowed down on the kitchen table, near to tears, surrounded by unopened books and blank sheets of paper.   His three-month report on birds was due the next day.  Lamott said he was “immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead.”  His father put his arm around his shoulders and encouraged him, “Bird by bird, buddy.  Just take it bird by bird.”

Sometimes it is hard even to begin praying. As with Lamott’s brother, we are immobilized by the hugeness of the task.  What do we pray for first?  What is most urgent? Where do we step in?  How in the world can God intervene in this?

God leads us how to pray as we participate in life itself– right in the midst of the rigors, the routines, even in what we see as mundane tasks.  The simplest words and actions often unfold into the most profound prayers of all.

Ask the wisdom of Brother Lawrence, a French monk in the 1600s, who washed dishes and repaired broken sandals his entire career.  In seeking the Presence of God in his menial and overlooked work, he learned to seize those moments to pray. And how to pray, not by kneeling in a grandiose cathedral but on the dirt floor of the subterranean kitchen of a monastery.  There was never an end of what to pray about.

As for us, we can start with what we do know and pray into it from there.

Just start praying.

All we have to do is get over the threshold, and enter in, one step, one praise, one felt need at a time.  Those few words and moments turn into more, and then even more.  God leads us into the deeper rooms.  One concern is translated into prayer instead of worry.  And then another rises up that He also takes into His hands.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4. 16

And sometimes God places point blank in our thoughts while we are participating in the ordinary things of life (which are never so ordinary), a name, a familiar face, an overheard conversation, even a situation next door, or what we see or hear in our comings and goings.  How did that get there?  Pray about that too. And be amazed by His leading.  “I haven’t thought of her in years.”  We may never know why God brought that person to mind, but we can pray.  We don’t always see how the whole story plays out.  But that is not the point.

Prayer is not a reaction to experiencing an angelic lightshow, or gut-wrenching impulses, or even just “feeling like it,” but the daily practice of seeking God. 

In an interview in 1959, author and novelist Flannery O’Connor revealed that she wrote steadily three hours a day, regardless of her mood.  “If I waited for inspiration, I’d still be waiting,” she said.

We too start with being present.  “OK, God, here I am.”  And then we realize His Presence is already here.

We view prayer far too often as a form of contract:  I request.  God answers.  But prayer is not about doing, or asking, or explaining, or crying out for help, but God’s covenantal aligning our hearts with His. 

When we pray, quite suddenly or over the course of the day, God changes us.  We see and respond differently.  Not just to God, but to circumstances and to each other.

How to get started?  Bird by bird.  We start praying, and it spills over into our entire day.

Sit for a silent moment, and listen.  We don’t have to know what happens next.  We just need to respond to God’s nudges.  God is teaching us how to pray. His fundamental law of prayer is embedded deep in the ordinary and the unexpected.

All I do know is that if I listen long enough, and begin to pray, something unexpected – and maybe never even recognized – is bound to happen.  God works that way, far exceeding our imagination or requests, and always way beyond our lifetimes.

Just start praying.