Passive?

To those who think that prayer is passive:

Those who really press and involve God with this petition in the expectation that he will answer it, as people who are seriously and fundamentally disquieted and startled, press and involve themselves too in their own plac and manner as people and within the limits of their own human capabilities and possibilities. They declare, and within their limits take on responsibility, that in the matter about which they pray to God something will be done correspondingly by them.

(Karl Barth, The Christian Life, p. 169; quoted in John Webster's Holiness, p. 76).

Perhaps that's why I'm sometimes reluctant to pray: I don't want to have to act on that prayer. I don't want to be that person who says a mindless prayer and forgets whatever-it-was. I want to care--but not too much.

Environment and Prayer Quote

“When it comes to climate change . . . what is often missing is quiet reflection and passionate prayer. As the world descends into fearful uncertainty, we need space to ask God for his perspective and intervention, to think about what our abuse of his creation says about us, and to plead for a new vision of God’s purposes for us in his world.”   

                         ~Dave Bookless

Karl Barth quote

“To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.” (Karl Barth)

This past week I really felt that this was the reason that I pray. I just saw so many wrongs in the world, so much brokenness, that it drove me to pray. 

May God break our hearts for the brokenness of this world.

Martin Luther quote

"God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on the trees, & in the flowers & clouds & stars." -Martin Luther

Quote

“Prayer at its best opens earth to heaven.”

~Selwyn Hughes

Refreshment

Like I mentioned in my last post, I haven't been praying that much lately. I've been really busy, and praying felt more and more like a chore, something to cross off my to-do list, rather than a wonderful time to spend time with my God and to try to make a difference in the world. I did miss praying, and I wished that I could do it more, but nothing changed for a bit.

This past week, though, God has really been working in me, and telling me that my schoolwork has become too important to me. Yesterday I forced myself to sit down and pray through a list of species. Today I thought of this quote from Martin Luther:

I've got so much work to do today, I'd better spend two hours in prayer instead of one.

What would it be like if I lived that out in my own life? 

This morning was very stressful; I was up late the night before, I went back to sleep twice and then had to hurry through some work for class that morning. I felt a bit lost and frustrated, and my thoughts were out of control and sinful. When I got back from class, I heard God whisper, "Pray." So I sat down and prayed for a list of species.

And it was amazing. I felt peaceful and refreshed. Taking the time to spend with God was totally worth it.

Exhaustion

My life has been crazy busy lately, and I'm feeling exhausted. That exhaustion is also affecting my prayer life. Lately I've been more reluctant to spend time praying, and feeling like it's a waste of time. I know that's not true, but the feeling is still there. I pray that God will give me the strength to keep going, even when I feel like I can't.

"Pray hard, work hard, and leave the rest to God." ~Florence Griffith Joyner

My outlook on prayer

I had a really amazing experience this morning.

I woke up this morning from a really compelling dream. I should perhaps add that I often struggle with to stay in reality, mentally; I often have to resist the urge to think obsessively about fantasy or book worlds. So I woke up from this dream, and it was literally all I wanted to think about. I actually lay in bed for a while, doing just that. I finally forced myself to get up, but I still couldn't think about anything else. Making breakfast didn't help, reading a book didn't help, even reading the Bible didn't help much. Then I started working my way through my prayer list. For the first time ever, I think, I wasn't trying to will the prayers true, and I wasn't bored and just trying to get through it. I was just talking to God, asking for His help--both with my own problems and for His protection of the species I was praying for. My experiences that morning had made it abundantly clear that I couldn't handle anything on my own. I was just talking to God, and basking in His presence. I was just with Him. The desire to think about fantasy worlds receded. Praying was a joyful, easy thing to do. It was, honestly, just completely amazing.

It made me think of the following C. S. Lewis quote: "I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time--waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God--it changes me." For the first time, I felt like I understood what people mean when they say that praying changes them--because praying today did change me. It centered me in God, and God gave me His peace and strength.

Quote

I ran across this quote a few days ago, and again today:

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can.  ~Sydney Smith


It really resonated with me--I feel like it describes very well both what I'm trying to accomplish through my prayer quest and through my life.