Prays Well With Others

 

I had a minor medical procedure this week.  No big deal.  But I was dreading the preparation for it.  I asked a few friends to pray for me.  I felt ridiculous asking for such a simple thing when there are so many other huge things to pray about.  But I am aware that the adversary always makes asking for prayer seem silly, ridiculous, and pointless. I requested prayer, nonetheless. 

One of the ways God gives us His strength and encourages us on our hard journeys is through prayer.  We pray to God.  But we need not pray alone.

We are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses, running with us, praying with us, watching out for us, and cheering us on.  For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like an army of God.  1 Chronicles 12. 22

When we pray, God brings in the troops, like lining a proverbial marathon route with the fellowship of the saints, not shouting “You’ve got this.”  Or “Believe in yourself!”   But singing God’s strength and endurance and yes, even joy over us.

Prayer is not meant to be hands folded and eyes closed, but when we pray with others, our hands open to what God will provide and our eyes wide open to God’s grander vision.

Dread never makes anything easier.  But God brings us through the deepest, darkest miry bogs, not just giving us His strength but nurturing trust in Him even more for what is yet to come.  Our strength is built in layers on His.  And hard experiences engrave trusting Him into our very souls.

Prayer does not draw God into our situation, but enlarges and increases our awareness of Him.  God does not just show up.  He is already here.  And through the lens of His Presence, He empowers us to see even impossible situations differently.

And the servant said, “Alas, my master!  What shall we do?” Elisha said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.”  Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw.  And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.  2 Kings 6. 15-17

Something more comes into play than getting through a hard place or across a finish line.  Because God works through relationships.  He always has.  Praying is no exception.  And when we pray for others, or ask others to pray for us, the blessing gets all over everyone.  Prayer invites others into what God is unfolding in our lives….and in theirs.  Prayer is not being vulnerable, but the lifeblood of Christian community.  Prayer draws us closer to God and closer to each other, both sides of intervention and intercession.  God brings about more than “an answer,” but reveals Himself to us.  And that always goes incredibly deeper than our requests.  God nurtures and nourishes, both the prayed for and those who pray.

I can promise someone “I’ll be praying for you.”  And it is an encouragement to know that others are praying.  But God often nudges me to say instead, “May I pray for you right now?”  That immediacy to actually pray on the spot, when we can, far exceeds mere encouragement.  We don’t just take a list of requests with us, but words that hover before the Throne.

And when we pray with others, things happen out of the ordinary that cannot be explained, if not for God. 

There is nothing too insignificant to pray about.  God cares for every one of us and every part of us.  And when we ask others to pray, they realize God cares for their “little” stuff too, which we all know, is never so little.  We all struggle with something.  Our asking for prayer, being honest and open before others, grants them the freedom and courage to ask as well.  There is nothing that stands outside His care.  And one prayer about something always leads to something even more to pray about, something even deeper. 

Praying invites others to share in seeing God’s mighty and extraordinary work in ordinary lives. Even our own. 

For where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I among them.   Matthew 18. 20

Prayer makes us realize we are vulnerable before others and before God Himself.  We need Him. And that in itself is a strong witness in this world.

May it be seen in us:  Prays well with others.

That Lingering Yellow Light

 

When our oldest daughter was about three years old, she came home from Sunday school very excited one week to share with us that God answers prayer like a traffic light:  red means no, green means yes, and yellow means wait.  “God always answers,” she said.

That simple word picture made perfect sense to her.  When we pray, we can trust God in what He is doing.

Even in her young eyes, our daughter realized for every moment of prayer, God responds.  He can’t help but take action in some profound way, more powerfully than we even can pray.  When we pray, we are interacting with the Almighty.

There is a lot we cannot see from where we stand.  There is a lot we cannot know because He is God and we are not.  And while an analogy can help us understand a little, it gives us but a glimpse.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or even imagine, according to the power at work within us…. Ephesians 3. 20

The analogy unfolds in deeper ways.  In real life and prayer, a red light means to stop on the spot.  Not just to slow down, but to stand still until further direction.  It may mean a change of course.  Or turn to the right or the left.  Or just STOP.  It’s why it is red – to get our attention.  Don’t go there.  Don’t even inch forward.  Does God really mean stop?  (Yes, Eve, He did.)  We have to trust God.  What does it take to get my attention? 

And when ignored, well, we witness collisions all around us. It is a matter of the will that impacts everyone around us.

The green means GO!  It is not that our prayers are answered in the affirmative, that we were able to convince God of our plan, or that God agrees with us.  Green still means “Follow Me into this.”  Sometimes green is simply the encouragement to keep going, or keep pursuing what God has placed before us.  But sometimes green is not what we want.  “This is going to be hard.  I can’t see over the next hill.  I can’t see where this is going.”  Green too requires trusting God.   

And then comes the lingering yellow which does not mean just to wait, but to yield.  We think of yielding as a submitting to someone else, but yield is more often mentioned in Scripture as the result of responding to, listening to, and following God --the bearing of fruit--, as in The land shall yield its increase. (Leviticus 26. 4) 

But it also – even in the bearing of fruit – is tied to submitting to God.  But yield yourselves to the LORD and come to His sanctuary (2 Chronicles 30. 8)

In the ancient Hebrew, yield in this verse means to give, grant, permit, consecrate, commit, entrust, give over, deliver up, stretch out and extend.  The primitive root for yield means to be used with “the greatest latitude of application,” according to Strong’s Concordance. 

Yielding to another and the bearing of fruit are inextricably linked.  That yellow light provides an opportunity to rush through the intersection (beat that light), proceed cautiously, or allow someone to take our own rightful place.  That selflessness of bowing down or letting go for the good of others is a visible form of the gospel, giving ourselves up to free others.  What do we choose?

That lingering yellow responds “Not my way but Yours.”  The yellow light means being aware of everything around us and then make a move, yield to another, commit the situation to God, and proceed cautiously.  What do we end up doing at moment’s notice?  Exactly what we have been practicing.

Prayer can give us the courage and heart to do that—to give what is rightfully ours for the well-being of others. 

Yielding, like prayer, spills over into all of life.  It is a strengthening that moves from one situation to the next, exercising the greatest latitude of application.  Not should I, but how can I, yield in this difficult position or hard situation?

Others watch how we drive, how we treat others, how we respond when things are difficult, how we navigate in the hard stuff, how –or if --we choose the selfless rather than the selfish.  And it is not just others who are watching how we respond, but our own children sitting in the passenger seat, watching our every move, every reaction in word and deed, this is what to do.  Have they witnessed us praying? It may be a momentary situation, or what doesn’t appear to matter in the grand scheme of things, but we are engraving a legacy for generations.

Yielding in the most volatile situation in the office, or in the midst of a confrontation, or even in traffic, what kind of people live like that?

“Your life as a Christian should make non-believers question their unbelief in God,” wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer from a prison cell in Nazi Germany.  He had been living out that truth for decades, and seventy years later, it still resounds.

The lingering yellow points us to think prayerfully about everything. 

Yielding is a matter of love, not grudgingly replying, but lovingly responding as His beloved child.

God guides us from one response to the next, from one tiny yielding to a much more consequential one.  There are no small responses.  We are changed by our choices as we pray.

Standing in the River, Waving a Stick

We were camping this week along a lazy stretch of the humble Duck River which ran alongside the state park campground.  To look at it, the water looked murky, no wider than a rock could be thrown to the other side, and frankly, no fish in sight.  The river was bordered by walls of eroded granite and large trees leaning precariously over the muddy banks.

But as my husband always says, “The fish are there.  You can’t catch one, unless you wet your line.”

And so, in the middle of one afternoon, he fished for a while, casting out into the slowly moving water, under the canopy of a crystal blue sky and early-October leaves just starting to change colors.  Nothing in the water even moved.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next afternoon, a little cloudier and cooler, he scrambled down a bank on the other side of the two-lane, and tried another spot with a different lure.  Within the first few casts, he landed the largest small-mouth bass he had ever caught.

Later, we discovered that this unassuming piece of water is part of a 284 mile tributary. And surprise of surprises, more species of fish are found in the humble Duck River than in all the rivers of Europe combined.

The fish are there.  We just don’t always see them.  Or wait for them.

Fishing is not about hurrying, or even catching countless fish, but listening, watching and wonder.  So is praying.  To just be still before God, taking the time to be aware of His Presence, and to converse in ways that cannot be limited by mere words.

When we pray, we “wet our line,” and cast before the eternal God our concerns, joys and questions. “What do I do in this situation?”  “What is Your way through?” “What is now and what is next?” Not for God to bring an answer of our own choosing (I’ll take a 20-inch rainbow trout, please), never if there will be an outcome, but realizing that God is already responding in ways far beyond our imagination and the perimeters of our prayers.

In the vocabulary of those who fish –or pray-- the words hope, waiting, and patience all have a common thread of expectation.  Something will happen, something is about to happen.  God is not limited by the passage of time we place on Him.

Waiting is not a passive spectator sport, but a fully-engaged activity, aware, prepared, and ready to go.  Indeed, another way to define waiting is to serve, as in a waiter. 

And even as we watch and listen and serve Him in the interim, God surprises us.  He ambushes us with His goodness in the most unexpected ways of all, in the most unfamiliar spaces, and unlikely times.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him.   Psalm 37. 7

Why are fishing and praying so caught up in waiting?

We may not yet be ready.  The point at this time may not be about catching a whopper at all, or seeing an answer, but a matter of trusting Him. Not dependent on what happens to come to the surface, but willing to accept what God brings about.

And as we pray one way, and then another, whether starting or continuing to pray, we begin to pray differently about what is before us.  We become aware of Him.  We are not speaking words into a void, but conversing with the Almighty.  Welcome God and invite Him in, and dwell with Him in a state of expectation. 

Is not this to know Me? declares the LORD.  Jeremiah 22. 16

God nudges us to try –or pray-- another way in this. His response may not be on this meek and mild stretch of river, or in this volatile situation.  It may not be this afternoon, but tomorrow.  It may be not catching fish at all, but rising to one’s feet in the splendor of His creation, aware of His Presence, listening to His voice on the smooth waters, standing firm in expectation, and trusting Him just a little more.

Those are the conditions in which the faithful can flourish.

And when we are content in following Him, even in the most unexpected places, He says to us, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.”  So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.  John 21. 6

And after a day of fishing, I will often ask my husband, “How did you do?”

He nearly always smiles and replies, “It’s not about the fish.”