|
Reflections on Prayer |
|
As the apostle Paul admonished "pray without ceasing." If we are in unity with Paul, we would be in contact with God constantly and He would be knowledgeable about our concerns and aspirations, so knowledgeable, in fact, that our Lord would instruct us immediately on how to resolve our difficulties. Yet we need to be in relationship with the living Lord at all times to hear, and more important, to obey Him in His gift of all powerful love. Yet few of us are praying unceasingly, much as we may have the desire to do so. Small wonder we need to wait on Him in awe to receive Jesus' instructions as well as His love. We may bring several concerns for Him to respond, hopefully fulfilling our desires for help. But since God is far more knowledgeable, He may command us only to center on a few of our concerns. We may have the talent to be effective - with God's grace. Praying to God, we must, if we are faithful, understand that the matters we bring to God, He has heard and even sent His love. For example, if we pray for a sick individual, we can and should assume God has sent his care to the unfortunate individual - and we should praise Him for being such a loving God. What we would need to discern is what the Lord requires to alleviate the pain and discomfort of the person. For such instructions, we pray and the Lord will respond. Although I desire to kneel before the Lord in prayer, witnessing my obedience to the Lord's power and love, there are times when I am physically unable to do so. Nonetheless, I feel God will forgive me. We must realize that we are the Lord's servants, not His equals. That is why, when we feel called to pray, we need to be prepared to follow His command, despite possible inconveniences for us. We are His people, let us remember that in our prayers. There are times when Jesus moves us to pray during Meeting for Worship. On these occasions God instructs the meeting to become involved in the concerns of an individual and his or her family. The meeting then in the name of Christ ministers to the people in need - in God's way, not with our own ideas. We may need to pray at another time, if we do not fully comprehend God's wishes in these matters. Small wonder we must pray "unceasingly." People may ask if God requires a meeting to pray for peace with justice. The answer is a definitive yes. Christ commands us to be peacemakers, even if we suffer as a result of our adherence to the Lord. Yet we pray to receive guidance on what activities we need to pursue and, equally important, what proposals we need to reject, no matter how idealistic they seem to us. We are here to serve the Lord. To do that, we need to have the faith that "God is over all." Friends, we must trust God's wisdom. In prayer, we receive that wisdom. Let us follow Paul's advice and learn to listen to God with consistency. Then we will know and follow God wherever He leads us.
Arthur Berk |