Praying Till it Hurts

I've been locked in prayer for a friend for the past several days. It is an honor to do that but also a huge responsibility.

Many years ago, I was privileged to attend a seminar taught by Don Miller about prayer. He taught us to spend an hour a day in prayer. Back in those days, I actually did that - an hour every morning. It goes by faster than you think, because he taught us to use five-minute segments for different types of prayer. Did you know, for instance, the difference between praise and thanksgiving?

Praise is an acknowledgement of Who God is - His character, His attributes, His Names which describe Him specifically. Thanksgiving is showing appreciation for specific acts in our behalf - answers to prayers, protection in dangerous situations, etc.

I frequently mention in my blogs that we fail to be thankful for the times when God steps in to protect us or we pray for something and then when the answer comes, we forget to thank Him for that answer. We are in this country, very lax on being thankful. We are a nation of entitlement and that spills over and becomes ungratefulness.

Recently, I had started into the big city near where I live to pick up my Christmas cards. I was zipping along at the posted speed limit, and suddenly realized, the UHaul trailer in front of me was not zipping along. In fact, he was braking hard and the trailer was doing a little dance in and out of the lane (fish-tailing for those who didn't get the picture from that description). There was enough traffic around me that I couldn't veer into another lane and I really didn't think it was possible to get my car stopped before I hit that trailer.

BTW - My husband is a Penske dealer, so hitting a UHaul trailer would be a greater offense in our home than in most.

I hit my brakes hard. There was rumbling and thumping and shaking. I eased up once to be sure all was well and realized what I was experiencing was the miracle of an anti-lock braking system. It is rare that I utilize that item. I hit the brakes again, but honestly, I was very surprised when my car stopped short of the trailer. I took a deep breath, and actually remembered to whisper a thank you to God for preventing my inclusion in the already growing accident scene that led to the trailer's driver stopping in front of me.

The point is to recognize and acknowledge God's activities in our lives. They are constant, but we fail to see them.

Other components of an hour of prayer include praying for others, praying for yourself, and even listening to God. For five minutes? You've got to be kidding. But you know, Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God." Years ago a friend gave me a framed calligraphy version of this verse. It reads, "SHUT UP and know that I am God."

So much of the time, we concentrate every moment in prayer on telling God what we need or what we want Him to do - almost like the list children send to Santa Claus. Yesterday, while I was praying for an extended time for my friend, I got quiet for a few moments and God led me to pray specifically about something different from what I'd been concentrating on.

You see, God already knows the needs. He knew my friend would be in this situation before He even created Adam and the garden. I don't need to tell God anything. Yet in Luke 18, Jesus spoke about a widow who went "continually before the judge" with her petition. The judge got tired of hearing from her and granted her what she asked. Psalms refer to prayers as incense for the Lord. He wants to hear from us. He wants us to bring before him the names of those in need.

He wants to be in communication with us.

And that's what prayer is all about. As I write this, the answers have not become to come yet. There will be several answers. Some I will rejoice in, and others I may ask God "Why?" Either way, I continue to pray for my friend. I've cried, I've been silent, I've been vocal even praying aloud at times. And I know the answers are coming. I know God is Sovereign. He is in control. And He loves my friend more than I do.

I have known people, men and women, who utilize prayer requests as a form of gossip. They would never acknowledge that, but I am careful who I ask to pray for me. I actually have eight chosen prayer partners. I trust them with nearly every aspect of my life. However, they know that I don't have to know the details of a situation to pray, and sometimes, I ask them to pray without the details. You see? God knows the details. Sometimes, he brings someone to mind, and I turn that thought into prayer for them, and I may never know what was going on. I don't need to know. I think of the servicemen I have prayed for over the years and not known at all what they were involved in, but I know of two instances when weeks or hours later, I did get to know that God called me to prayer for them at the exact moment they were facing grave danger. Just knowing that two times is enough to keep me praying.

The point is, I don't want to ask someone to pray for a specific need only to have that person spread around that I have that need. I want to choose who I share with. So, I asked my prayer partners to pray for my friend, but they have no idea who they are praying for or the ins and outs of the situation - only that someone needs prayer.

Finally, God blesses us with this little bonus for praying for others. It's called love. Not romantic love, but godly love - agape love. He tells us to pray for our enemies. Now THAT is a challenge. Still, when we do, we are able to forgive them and by doing so, we release ourselves from the bonds of anger, hatred, and self-centeredness. Sometimes that means our relationships will be restored. Sometimes it means that though forgiven, those people will not be trustworthy and we will need to be wise about future contacts with them. Either way, we are commanded to love one another.

And when we already love one another, and someone is hurting, we pray until it hurts us too. That's what Jesus did. That is our calling.