Skip to main content

Pray Like a Caged Bird!

Prayer has been a tough journey for me. I most often am weary in prayer, not fully understanding the point: if God is leading all things to their end, what is the need for prayer? But the "God" I refer to with that sentiment is a far off God who does not need prayer. However, the God of the Bible does use prayer. And desires prayer.

Prayer is our way to connect with God. And therein, perhaps, lies the real rub. Do I believe that I will hear from God, that in prayer, I will actually connect with the God of the universe. I am not the only one to ask this question:

Is the reason, we're not still to hear You, because we don't believe You will, in stillness and simplicity ~Michael Card. 
Though, I am finding little solace in that right now. But some.

My trouble these days has been hearty belief. There is a nagging doubt in, well, all of it, that has kept me grounded. And that's probably a good thing. But, I pray that I wait upon the Lord (Isaiah 40:31). I can hear Eugene Peterson also calling to Jeremiah 12:5. By His grace, I will run with horses, Brother Peterson!

Lord Jesus, You give us promises to rely on, to strengthen us when things look bleak. I have not heard from You in a way that I want, but can I learn to hear from You in the way that You want? In the way You are guiding me? Teach me to pray, Lord Jesus. Teach me to listen. Teach me how to be connected to You and the Father through the Spirit. I pray not for technical flourish, but for flight nonetheless. Do birds think about flight when they are flying, or do they think about what they're after? But should they be grounded, they no doubt anguish in their diminished capacity. Such as that grounded bird, is what it is to be a man. The Word, I read, tells me that You understand that full well.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Time for a Hasty Decision

This morning, I awoke reflecting on yesterday. What I've been complaining to my wife recently about is that I'm always feeling attacked by my bosses. Like all things, there is some truth to it and some error in perception. I felt I should read a bit about defensiveness, just to get an idea of how it's happening with me and what I can do to stop it. I came up with the following diagram: from these really simple and straight forward articles: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/love-cycles-fear-cycles/201805/why-do-people-get-so-defensive https://www.amazon.com/Love-Cycles-Fear-Connection-Relationship/dp/1590794400 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-be-yourself/201805/how-stop-getting-defensive I see my problem, it's that I assume that people are coming from a bad place, and I just can't shake that. But even if people are coming from a bad place (whatever that means to me), I still have to find ways to turn it around. I have to work with a...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Do of Potential Energy

James 4:17  New Century Version (NCV) Anyone who knows the right thing to do, but does not do it, is sinning. Romans 7:15-18 For what I want to do I do not do, but  what I hate I do . And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.   The tension between my wife and I is coming to a breaking point. And that breaking point is either going to turn out for better or worse . The formula for distance is as follows: Matt (mistake) = Jess (distrust). And so it has gone for these 10 years. Notice that the formula does not include mitigation; in other words; Matt (good things) = Jess (approbation/trust) seems to be of negligible effect compared to the mistake coefficient. Thinking in terms of Gibbs free energy, the state of our relationship seems to be much more governed by mistakes (enthalpy) than be any good (entropy)....
Post a Comment
Read more

Mind Fullness

I don't know if I'm altogether down with the notion, but it certainly makes sense. SitD for today is all about the prerequisite of being in a place of rest to hear God. The contention from me comes when I see all manner of Psalmist saying, "I cried out... and the Lord heard me", or "in the midst of my storm". But I guess that the answer could have come in time of calm after the storm, and the Psalmists reflected back and realized that God was there all along. Being amateur as I am in faith, and to some degree untested, I hear CS Lewis in the back of my mind with words from Mere Christianity. To summarize and paraphrase: we may have all manner of experience with God, as the man in the desert, but without theology, without systematic study, application, learning and wisdom in the things of God. George Matheson writes, and I read, that calm is needed to hear God. That God will not speak amidst the turmoil of a frantic and busy life. I think, fretfully, w...
Post a Comment
Read more