prayer

Press On: Navigating the Buttons of Life

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Right now, which of these buttons speaks to you the most? Are you inclined to press previous, play, pause, stop, or next?

I tend to hover over the “next” button.  The temptation there for me is ruminating about what’s next to the point where I forget to be present, which can lead to escapism or fear.  I am realizing that I can reframe that “next” button as I trust God with my future. I can press “previous” and express gratitude for how God has been faithful in the past. I can press “pause” and take a deep breath, reminding myself that the Holy Spirit in within and around me. I can cultivate a sense of expectancy while not imposing my expectations or obsessing over exact outcomes. I can sing along with the hymnwriter who proclaims, “Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.”

Your Call: Reflect on the button that stands out the most and how that speaks to this season of your life.  (Sisters in Christ, I invite you to subscribe to my Flow to Fruitful newsletter and receive a free mini-workbook that goes a little deeper with this. For more information, click: bit.ly/flowtofruitful).

Resurrection Living: A prayer during this pandemic

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It was about a year ago when I began to reflect upon what it looks like to live out the resurrection beyond Easter Sunday.  Never would I have imagined that the year 2020 would bring a pandemic with it. How do we speak life into what feels like an abyss?  The only place for me to begin is prayer, whatever that may look or sound like at any given time.   My prayers have consisted of grief and gratitude, of sobs and psalms, of heartache and hope, and of indignation and intercession. In the midst of this, I sensed the need to write the following prayer so that I can return to it as I navigate this journey.

Very Present Help in Trouble,

I pray for our scientists to get the necessary knowledge, understanding and resources for the ethical, expeditious development of a safe and effective treatment and vaccine.

I pray for divine covering and adequate protective gear for health care staff and for all other front-line essential workers putting their lives on the line and for all others to respect the guidelines for social distancing and sheltering in place. 

I pray for a sufficient supply of hospital beds and medical equipment for those suffering and in critical condition from the virus. I pray against the insidious nature of this disease that seeks to snatch the very breath that You gave us at birth.

I pray for integrity, wisdom and compassion for leaders who influence and impact others by their words, deeds and decisions.   I pray against a mindset of greed and selfishness that puts money and privilege above the precious lives of those You created in Your image.

I pray for families, friends and communities trying to figure out how to live and love and for those who struggle to make a living.  I pray against corrupt systems that would continue to ignore or exploit those on the margins.

I pray for educators and students as they navigate how to teach and learn in these challenging circumstances.  I pray for 2020 graduates who grieve as they miss out on  anticipated celebrations.

I pray for increased awareness of Your presence and protection for the self quarantined who feel isolated, depressed, trapped, anxious, fearful, in despair, on the verge of relapse or powerless and those being mistreated or abused in any way. 

I pray for Your comfort for those who mourn the dead and healing for those who  fight to live.  For these, I pray for an extra measure of Your supernatural strength.

I pray that we find a place of rest, wellness and purpose in the midst of this trying time.

I pray all these things in the matchless and mighty name of Jesus. 

Amen and so be it.

Your Call: What is prayer like for you during this pandemic?

Resurrection Living: Prayers from the Edge

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Imagine sitting around a table with the biblical prophets Elijah and Habakkuk, along with Ida B. Wells, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. What would you ask them? One of my questions would be, “How do you handle discouragement?” I don’t know exactly what they would have said, but I believe that some version of a “prayer closet” would be mentioned in every response.  

Elijah is running for his life. Exhausted, he ends up scrunched down under a broom tree in the wilderness, desperate to disappear. In his torment, he manages to consume the food and drink offered, and makes his way to the mountain of God.  He ends up in a cave, but it’s still in the mountain of God, a place where he repeatedly reminds God of his faithfulness to his prophetic call. In essence, he is saying to God, “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this…”

The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.  There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
1 Kings 19:7-10

Habakkuk is clear that he has a complaint. He sees the violence around him. He doesn’t get to view the mayhem from a distant place but is up close as he bears witness to the idolatry and injustice surrounding him and cries out to God,  “Why are you doing nothing about this?” Yet, the prophet’s plan is to go to his post and wait for God’s answer.

“I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint.” Habakkuk 2:1

Ida B. Wells rides a train from Memphis for a teaching assignment. The conductor insists that she move from the “ladies car” to the “smoking car.” True to form, she refuses to move and the conductor resorts to forcibly removing her.  Upon returning to Memphis, she files a lawsuit against the railroad and wins the case. Unfortunately, the decision is reversed by the state’s Supreme Court. An entry in her diary, dated April 11, 1887, expresses her disappointment.

“O God, is there no redress, no peace, no justice in this land for us? Thou hast always fought the battles of the weak & oppressed. Come to my aid at this moment & teach me what to do, for I am sorely, bitterly disappointed. Show us the way, even as Thou led the children of Israel out of bondage into the promised land.”  From The Memphis Diary of Ida B. Wells, edited by Miriam Decosta-Willis 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. receives yet another menacing phone call at his home.  The caller spews racist hatred and threatens to hurt his family. He becomes so overwhelmed that he can’t sleep, so he gets up, goes to the kitchen and makes some coffee. Then he prays:

“Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right. I think I’m right; I think the cause that we represent is right.  But Lord, I must confess that I’m weak now; I’m faltering; I’m losing my courage. And I can’t let the people see me like this because if they see me weak and losing my courage, they will begin to get weak.”   Martin Luther King Jr from his sermon, “Why Jesus Called a Man a Fool”,  August 27, 1967

Sometimes, we must steal away to a secret place.  At that place, we encounter the divine presence and power we need for resurrection of courage and commitment.

Elijah hid in the mountain. God told him about the 7000 reinforcements he knew not of, and sent him to his next assignment

Habakkuk waited at his watchpost. God told him to write the vision of justice that would come and wait for it.

Ida. B. Wells wrote in her diary.  God must have answered since she went on to expose the wickedness of lynching in America

Dr. King sat at his coffee table. God told him: “Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness, stand up for justice, stand up for truth.  And lo I will be with you, even until the end of the world.”

How do we press on in the midst of our frustrations and fears?  In the same sermon I referred to earlier, Dr. King stated that our enslaved ancestors took another prophet’s “question mark and straightened it into an exclamation point.” How? They clung to the courage that oppressive forces tried to snatch.  How? They continued to remind themselves of one ultimate truth passed down from generation to generation:
God is with us.  

Your Call: Do you have a special place of prayer where you meet God in times of turmoil?  Where is your watchpost?

The Power of Praying Beyond Your Words, Part 3

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Thinking about the future can usually go in one of two directions…excited anticipation or worrisome speculation.  A few weeks ago, I found my thoughts leaning toward the latter with what-if’s cluttering up my mental space.  As those thoughts began to settle in where they didn’t belong, I saw something out of the corner of my eye.  The flurry I saw turned out to be a few sparrows in flight.  At that moment, I was reminded of two things. First, I recalled the words of Jesus, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them…” Second, I remembered why I love watching birds. It’s cool when I manage to catch the Creator being creative.

The beauty of prayer is that it offers the opportunity for us to listen as God begins the dialogue.  And this can happen as we observe nature.  Yes, I see birds all of the time, but when I really pay attention, their appearance is a form of prayer.  The week after my sparrow sighting, I delighted in taking a picture of a robin posing upon a lamppost, looking calm and cared for.

Under Evergreen's EyeA few years ago during a season that felt barren, I went to a retreat in the hopes of getting refreshed and took this picture of a group of trees on the grounds. Notice the evergreen trees behind the trees with the bare branches.  I was grateful for this reminder that in spite of the seasonal changes that we go through, God’s presence and power are stable.

Your Call: Can you recall a time when you caught the Creator being creative in nature?  What do you think God was communicating to you at that time?  Share in the comments section below.

The Power of Praying Beyond Your Words, Part 2

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ChristCandle“You took the words right out of my mouth.”

You’ve either said or thought this before, haven’t you?  Surely you have heard someone speak something that you were scrambling to articulate. There are those times when one expresses the very thing that moves beyond thoughts forming in your mind to a deep place  within your soul.  It amazes me when someone who I have never met speaks to my situation so well that I know that I am not alone.

While original prayer has its place, there is strength in praying words that someone else somewhere else has prayed.  We can find rest in the words of the psalmists (“Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me” Psalm 23:4a), and wrestle along with the prophets (“O Lord, how long shall I cry, and you do not hear?” Habakkuk 1:2a).   As I mentioned in my previous post, praying beyond your words can be a powerful experience.

Autumn 2016 brought its share of stress.  I felt bare, like a tree that lost its leaves. The presidential campaign and election left me disillusioned and drained.  Even before that, I had faced new challenges that found me second-guessing myself.  I battled what many call the imposter syndrome.  But then I found the words I needed, and prayed these words as my own:

“Since it is by your mercy that I am engaged in this ministry, I do not lose heart”
2 Corinthians 4:1 (adapted)

“When I am tempted to doubt myself and question my gifts and experience,
remind me, God, of all that I know and that which I don’t know that I know.
Remind me who I am and whose I am.
Even when I hide behind my piety to avoid doing what must be done,
and use you as an excuse for indecision, for lack of action, for silencing myself.
Love me enough to lift the lid off my basket, order me to stop crouching in the dark,
like a woman without a God.”
Renita Weems, Showing Mary:
How Women Can Share Prayers, Wisdom and the Blessings of God

Words from the mouth of an eternal God can transcend time and meet you where you are.  Yes, it is good to pray in your own words, but there is also sacred space for prayers that are loaned and don’t have to be returned.  These borrowed prayers become kept prayers, and for that, I am grateful.

Your Call: What are some of your go-to prayers when you can’t find the words to fully express what is in your heart?  Send one up to God today and feel free to share below in the comments.  Consider using resources such as the Psalms, the Book of Common Prayer, and Pray as you go to as you seek other prayers that can become yours.

 

The Power of Praying Beyond Your Words

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ChristCandleWhat is your relationship with words?  I have loved words for as long as I can remember. Emerging from my neighborhood library with an armload of books was my weekly ritual as a child.  Now that I’m good and grown, words are my livelihood.  I get paid to speak and write, and my ability to put words together is often assessed in one way or another. My core spiritual practices and gifts are wrapped up in words and I typically delight in that.

Then there are those moments when words are both not enough and too much, like after a week when celebrations of freedom on July 4th were followed by unspeakable incidents of oppression, injustice and violent death in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis.  It is moments like these that remind me that God invites us to simply show up.  No need for pious phrases or even coherent sentences.  God beckons us to come … in whatever shape we come. And the presence of Jesus meets us.

Over the past few weeks, I have been drawn to unplugging after work by sitting in silence to release some things to God and receive some things from God.  Who knew that this would prepare me for a time when putting the words together, even in prayer, would have been too exhausting?  So this week, I just sat before God.  As I lifted up my burdens to God with my arms,  I allowed myself to feel the weight of it all and then the release, as my cupped hands parted to make room to receive.  The wonderful thing was that I didn’t have to articulate what I needed to release or receive.  God knew.

Your Call: Consider a time when words did not seem to be the way (or at least the only way) to pray.  How can other parts of your body (besides your mouth) be more active in your prayers?

An Independence Day Prayer

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Almighty and Loving God,

We come to You,
Humbled that we can.
Thankful that in grace and power,
You created us in Your image.
Grateful that Your Son came, wrapped in flesh,
sacrificing himself to secure our freedom.

We confess that we have not always lived the liberty that You have provided.
Instead we choose to cling to the comforts of the familiar
or to chase after the spectacular.

Help us to confront the internal bondage
that hinders us from following You wholeheartedly.
May Your love replace our fear.
May Your grace replace our pride.
May Your call replace our complacency.

Let us not avert our eyes from the oppression around us,
whether in the form of human trafficking, discrimination or violence. 
May we sit with You and grieve this injustice,
all the while being renewed by Your Spirit once again.
May we sit still long enough to hear and accept Your assignment,
all the while being empowered to transform the wilderness that we face.
May we support one another on the journey,
all the while demonstrating the power of authentic community.

May more chains fall off in our midst because we’ve been with You.

In the precious name of our Lord, Savior and Liberator, Jesus Christ, we pray.

Amen.

Your Call: In what areas of your life are you operating with more freedom?  In what areas do you need to flow with more freedom?  What areas of spiritual and/or systemic oppression concern you the most?  How do you sense that God might use you as an instrument of liberty?