Last night I kept the "nursery" at church. I spent time with a bright, "churched" 3rd grader. About an hour or so into our time together, she noticed that there were some interesting notes on prayer on the white board. She was confused and shocked that one bullet point said, "What do we do with "unanswered prayer?" "God doesn't answer all prayers?" she asked. "No," I told her. My heart broke with and for her as we both struggle with the issue of unanswered prayer.
So yes, I have been the victim of unanswered prayer. I typically like to think that when it comes to prayer, I am the sporadic always calling on and talking with the Lord type. I don't think that I always walk around with good peace of mind because I'm in constant communication with God, but I lift up a good chunk of my day--probably more than most people. Although every thought and prayer may not be submitted in humility, by the 3rd or 4th time I pray about the same thing I notice that I'm more willing to submit to God and say "whatever you want." I guess you could say that I'm learning to be more straight forward in asking for things.
Therefore, it was a shock to my system to find that I've struggled with both hearing from God and unanswered prayer. I will say that if I spent more constant, focused time in the Word/prayer then I would not feel so abandoned or cold turkey when I struggle. But lately I have found it so unnerving to pray to a God that I don't always understand--since I'm at a loss of how to pray since both asking and submission aren't working well for me. Please note that I don't think that there is anything wrong in those ways of prayer since they are DEFINATEly Scriptural, but my struggle is that I'm both practically and theologically having trouble with it at the moment.
So what do you do when you feel that you can't talk to the One that you love and need the most? I turned to formal prayer. My Anglican friends assure me that praying words that are true even when you don't want to pray is in itself a spiritual discipline and a true method of formation and growth. Duke offers morning prayer in Goodson Chapel each morning, and although I'd love to join my brothers and sisters of the liturgical persuasion, I am 1) scared of trying something new when it is in a "religious" atmosphere and 2) I may need freedom of time and space to pray for longer and shorter periods of time. I've tried the Celtic morning and evening prayers, but after a while they get repetitive. So I have found WONDERFUL resources for guided prayer online. My favorite is called Sacred Space. It has a focus time, a prayer time, a Scripture time, and a thought time. Although it is not complete--I like that the Lord's Prayer has a calling for the Kingdom, God's Will, Repentance and Forgiveness and Daily Prayer. So I guess if I'm pushed for time and can't use the computer, then I'll try praying through that wonderful prayer.
Happy praying in the Wilderness everyone!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
just my two cents...
I've been told that God DOES answer every prayer, but sometimes the answer is "No" or "Wait" instead of "Yes". Of course, sometimes it is hard to tell which it is.
I generally assume that if my prayer is not answered the way I want, then God's best for me (or someone else) was something other than what I wanted. Sometimes I look back and see that eventually, I agree, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere but where I am.
Post a Comment