O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. [Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT)]
When written by Guy Gilchrist, “Nancy” used to appear in the comics of our local paper. The slightly chubby, somewhat mischievous, eight-year-old girl with the red skirt and hair bow often prayed. In one comic, Nancy starts with a litany of thanks to God for always being there, showing her the way, filling her heart, and giving her just what she needs before she even knows she wants it. “You are an amazing God!” she offers in praise before closing her prayer with, “Could you throw me a couple answers before my math test tomorrow?”
After being told to say her prayers in another strip, the kneeling Nancy admits being told to have an “attitude of gratitude” and lists several things for which she is thankful. The little girl, however, informs God that she could spend even more time being thankful if only “there was a freak early snow storm and school was closed tomorrow.” Perhaps there was a math test scheduled that day! In another comic, after Nancy says, “I know you turned water into wine,” she looks up and asks, “Ever thought about turning Brussels sprouts into ice cream?”
At least Nancy started her prayers right with thanks, praise, and an acknowledgment of God’s power before voicing her requests. More often than not, people tend to skip right over those and get right into prayers like hers—fixing prayers—prayers to solve their problems, make their lives easier, or change what they don’t like. I hope Nancy wasn’t too disappointed when she missed a few long division problems on the test, no snow fell, and Brussels sprouts continued to taste like a cross between cabbage and broccoli.
If our prayers seem to go unanswered, could the problem lie with us and our prayers rather than an unresponsive God? Instead of asking God to bless and enable what it is we want to have or do, perhaps we should spend more time asking Him to direct our interests, actions, and causes. Rest assured, God will surely bless whatever it is He wants us to have or do. Rather than asking Him to change the world to please us, maybe we need to ask God to change us so we can please Him.
In a fourth “Nancy” comic, the usually cheerful little girl is lying on a hillside and crying. “I wonder if God knows how bad I feel,” she sobs. The next several squares show her weeping as the clouds change into words. In the last panel, she sits up and sees God’s message in the clouds: “Peace be with you.” With a faint smile, the tearful little girl says, “He knows.” Indeed, He does.
Like Nancy, Jesus had to learn his letters and numbers and attend school; He probably had a few foods he didn’t like, as well! Like you and me, He experienced everything we have—sorrow, family, work, love, betrayal, joy, pain, laughter, abandonment, temptation, friendship, loss, and even arithmetic.
While God isn’t likely to provide answers for math tests, provide snow days off from school, or transform hated vegetables into tasty desserts to accommodate our desires, He always will assure us of His love and bless us with His peace.
We must not think that [God] takes no notice of us, when He does not answer our wishes: for He has a right to distinguish what we actually need. [John Calvin]
So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. [Hebrews 4:14-16 (NLT)]
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My husband managed to track tar into the house on the bottom of his shoes. Unfortunately, he tracked it right onto the new bedroom carpet! I immediately got out a whole battery of chemicals and tried to clean it up. Needless to say, my efforts didn’t improve the situation; in fact, they only made it worse. In desperation, we did what we should have done in the first place: we got the name of a good carpet cleaner and called him. He spent as much time cleaning up the residue from my failed efforts as he did cleaning up the tar.
While creativity is encouraged in both cooking and prayer, there are certain procedures for both that should be followed to ensure good results. For example, before a cook even begins, his work surface, utensils, and hands should be clean. In prayer, instead of starting with clean bowls and spoons, we should start with a forgiving heart and wash off any resentment or anger.
Although the common position for prayer was standing, Jesus fell to His knees that night in the garden of Gethsemane. Luke describes Him as praying so intensely that His sweat dropped like blood. Having used the word hósei, meaning “as if it were, like, as, as though, or much like,” Luke may have meant Jesus sweat so profusely that it dripped from Him like blood. Nevertheless, Luke was a doctor who paid great attention to detail; he may have described hematidrosis, a rare medical condition in which the capillaries rupture causing blood to seep into the sweat glands and then out onto the skin. It’s caused by high blood pressure, a bleeding disorder, or extreme distress or fear, such as facing abuse, torture or death on the cross! Whether Jesus’ sweat poured off his body as if it were blood or He literally sweat blood, the Lord’s prayer was so intense that an angel came and strengthened Him.
A Latin word, lorica originally meant armor or breastplate. Because of an ancient practice of inscribing a prayer on the armor or shields of knights who then recited the prayer before combat, lorica came to mean a prayer of protection.
We’re two weeks into the season of Lent. While we typically associate this time before Easter with giving up something, it is more than simply abstaining or fasting from some thing or things. Fasting without prayer is nothing more than a diet and abstaining from some pleasure without prayer is more like dry January than a Lenten discipline! Without prayer, fasting and abstinence are physical acts but not spiritual ones! When we give up something for Lent, we need to deliberately and intentionally seek the Lord in prayer at the same time!
