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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Calls for Help

This season in my life has been drenched in prayer in a way I have never experienced before. I have always struggled with prayer. I would sit down with the best intentions of spending 10 solid minutes communing with God, or I would try to pray throughout the day, on my drive to work, before I fell asleep, but always my mind would wander off without my even knowing and I would usually say "amen" in frustration.

But now I find myself in a situation far beyond my control or ability to cope, and throughout the day I am leaning more and more on prayer. Don't get me wrong, I do not pray all day nor do I have long, fruitful conversations with God. What I have found is that in this time of true need as I am struggling to rely on God as my only source of help and restoration, my heart seems to be calling out to him at times even without me consciously choosing to.

Mostly it manifests itself in little desperate calls for help that sound to me a lot like begging. I will be doing the laundry or brushing my teeth and I catch myself praying "God, please restore what is broken." or "Lord, we need you so desperately in this situation."  It may not sound like a lot, but it keeps happening throughout the day, sometimes for longer periods, and for me at least it is so much more then at any time in my past.

Even as my prayers are increasing I am also aware of mixed feelings regarding this new development in my walk with God. I feel as though I am using God. I did not pray as much as I would have liked to in the past, but now that I need something from him prayers seem to be flowing out of me full of requests and demands for intervention. There is also a part of me that does not want to pray and ask God for anything because of my fear that if this situation is not resolved to my liking that I will resent God for not having stepped in. I would rather not ask then risk being denied.

Yet, my prayers continue. It does not feel optional. I recognize my need for God during this season, and fair or not, answered or not, I do not think my heart will let me stop praying. Perhaps that is why God brings these times in our lives. To spread our hearts open to him and pour out of us all those things that we know are beyond our realm of influence and require a deep touch from God and a healthy dose of prayer.

2 comments:

  1. I know so much of your struggle, I have felt that way a lot this year. I intend on praying but I have so often found myself falling asleep, it is the most frustrating thing. But I find more and more that I am really frustrated with my lack of desire to do something different to prevent myself from falling asleep. It's so frustrating when you want and desire something but yet you don't do enough to grab onto it. So I know where you are coming from in a sense. But just keep pursuing. And something I have been praying lately is 'God, don't let me lose my desire for you. Hold onto me through this and after this.' It is true that we cling closer to God when we really need him, it's harder when life seems good, but I try to keep in mind that I want God to be my security and provider. That reguardless of life and any situations, I want to always feel that bond between us.

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  2. I find this is so true! In times of confusion and change, I always turn to God more than when times are comfortable and easy....and I think that is some of the hidden blessings of trails and uncomfortable changes = it forces us to draw to God. And even when the storm is over....I find myself so overwhelmed by thankfulness, that my closeness with Him often continues beyond the trial. It is the way of being in a relationship :)

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