But the Lord, he gave to Moses a word for the people -
He said their firstborn sons could live to see another day -
“Put the blood of a lamb on the doorway and death will pass right over” -
That night all of the children of Israel prayed -
Andrew Peterson, Passover Us
That line messes me up every time I hear it. “That night all the children of Israel prayed.” This year after hearing that line again during Andrew Peterson’s Christmas show, I started thinking about how those parents must have prayed that night. I wondered if I have ever prayed like I really meant it.
A couple years ago I noticed a sore spot in the middle of my chest. where my ribs come together, just beneath my sternum. It felt like someone had hit me there, and it was bruised. A few weeks after I noticed that I could feel a “golf ball sized” bump sitting there. It was still a little sore like a bruise but getting more and more noticeable. I decided to stop in at a doctor and see what they thought. The nurse asked what was wrong, I showed her this bump thing, and she instantly stepped back.
“You need to see a surgeon about that.”, she says, still stepping back toward the door.
“Neat.”, I thought to myself. “Nothing like feeling a little uncomfortable at a doctors office eh?”
She kindly set up an appointment at a surgeon office down the road and sent me right over. This is one of the only moments in my life where I feel like I even came close to praying like I meant it. Why was this nurse so freaked out about it? Should I be? Who is my wife going to marry when I die? Is he going to be lame, and not be a cool dad to my boys?
We drove to the “surgeons” office to quickly find out that it was more of a cancer research place than a regular surgeon place, and she had set up an appointment with someone specializing in these sort of “bumps”. My wife and I sat in the car for a few moments staring at the sign above the door, only noticing the one word that seemed to matter at the time. Cancer.
“Well, I hope you marry someone cool.” I told Kristin. “Don’t marry some idiot, that dresses the boys all preppy or something.”
She grabbed my hand and wanted to pray again. For the next ten minutes or so we prayed like we meant it. For those few moments I knew what it was like to truly feel out of control. There was literally nothing I could do to change the situation that I was in. There was no feeling of, “I can fix this” or “We can change plans and do something else”. There was no shoulder I could find comfort leaning on. We finished up and walked in.
Even when I think about that, I can’t help but think about how much more intense the Israelites prayers must have been that night. I also think about my prayer life now. I am speaking to the creator of the universe, who could save or end my life with a thought, and I am busy playing guitar chords, or falling asleep while I am praying. Why do I find it so hard to pray like I mean it? Why do I treat it so flippantly as if I am talking to a distant acquaintance? It’s silly.
I’m not big on New Year’s Resolutions, but this is just something I’ve been thinking about recently, and something I would like to focus on more. If something were to jack your life up so intensely that you were completely out of control would you pray differently than you do now? How can we learn to pray like we mean it?
RSS
Like you said, it seems that sincere, urgent prayer only comes forth in urgent times, specifically when our own safety or status quo is under threat.
Even for big things that loved ones are enduring, I pray and I’m sincere, but the urgency is not there - probably because of selfishness. No matter how hard I pray or don’t pray, nothing of mine is really at stake.
If I loved others more than myself and held in God in the glorious esteem that I should, I think my prayer life would have the passion it needs.
Thanks for giving us something to think about. I probably need to heed this post.
I think of what John Piper says about prayer, and the saying he uses over and over again…. “wartime mentality”. I encourage all to go research what Piper says .. very convicting.
i’ve been at this place several times this year…not quite to the extreme of the children of Israel…but to the point of where things felt so out of control that there was nothing to do (or that I wanted to do more), but pray passionately, out of control.
it is indeed a good place to be!
[...] I read two posts this morning. Bush - Still the reason for the Season? and Brody - Pray like you Mean it. [...]
A teen in my youth group recently asked in his blog what he should say to the Creator and if it was okay to ask Him for so many things at once.
I often wonder if I take God’s presence for granted. Knowing He’s there, sometimes I don’t think I ask Him enough. There have been a couple of times in my life where I was so desperate I fell on my face, eating carpet, to pray. Sometimes I’ve been so scared I just literally hold my breath and wait for God to move. And He always has.
I wonder if it all comes back to our relationship with Him. He knows our hearts, he knows our need, he knows our reasons behind our requests. I wonder if praying like we mean it requires merely focus and hope in God. Whether on our faces or silent or a quick breath of “God, help me”, I’d venture to say that God desires us to remember that HE is salvation.
So I think maybe we can learn to pray like we mean it by working on that relationship with God. Focusing on who He is and that we are indeed in need of His movement in whatever situation at hand.
Thank you and thanks to God for this particular entry because it is essential to pray like we mean it. I pray we will live this life and pray as if this very breath is our last.
Great post Brody. I’m always trying to check myself on the issue. I too know what it feels like to be totallyout of control and just pray my butt off. I catch myself wondering what God thinks about the fact that I don’t pray like that every time I pray.
[...] I read two posts this morning. Bush - Still the reason for the Season? and Brody - Pray like you Mean it. [...]