PRAYING WHEN IT’S HARD - Part 2

To try to be in control of my prayers and their answers is especially tempting for me when I am praying for a difficult situation, or for persons for whom I may prefer not to pray. The title of an article by Stephen Doughty -- “How Do We Pray When We are Divided?” -- made me pause and think. How do we pray for the church... for our country… for one another... when harmony and unity seem to elude us? Am I willing to hold my desires for “harmony” in the light of God’s will through the Holy Spirit? When prayer is difficult because of my own feelings of distrust or fear or anger or bitterness toward others, I especially need to be reminded of the words of a Benedictine monk who said, “Pray as you can, not as you can’t.” It is when I cannot pray because I do not have the words, or because there is less than perfect harmony in my own heart, or between myself and my brother and sister, that I need to be reminded of the promise in Romans 8:26. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Do we trust God enough to allow the Spirit to help us pray for the church, for the country, and for one another not knowing what the answers will be, yet willing to receive the gift of God’s will through the Holy Spirit? 

-- Adapted from a message by Harriet Finney entitled "Perfect Harmony"

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PRAYING WHEN IT’S HARD - Part 1

Have you noticed how often Paul speaks of prayer as an integral part of the life of faith? In his epistle to Colossae, as in others of his letters, he frequently writes about prayer, with the assumption that prayer is already an integral part of their life of faith. Not praying was not even an option. “Devote yourselves to prayer,” he said, “keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2) Paul continues to encourage these early church members in their prayer life. For example, in the long list of greetings which are found at the close of this letter is one which I find especially interesting. It is from “Epaphras, who is one of you,” Paul tells them, “a servant of Christ Jesus.” And then there is a testimony by Paul to Epaphras’ prayer life. “He is always wrestling in his prayers on your behalf.” (4:12) How many of us wrestle in our prayers on behalf of others as we seek God’s will? Or do we sometimes tend to have the answers to our prayers all worked out ahead of time, and tucked away in our pocket to use as needed?

-- Adapted from a message by Harriet Finney entitled "Perfect Harmony" 

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