My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them.” Romans 9:2-3
There are prayers and then there are hard prayers. I sometimes think that prayer is one of the most misunderstood things in the Bible. A casual glance at prayer can give a person the wrong impression of prayer…and I get it. Several times in the gospels and in Paul’s writings we get the idea that all we need to do is ask and God will grant our every wish. While I am certain I don’t fully understand all the ins and outs of prayer, I’m pretty sure that isn’t the way it works.
The other morning, I was having some Jesus time, and I was giving prayer my best shot. A friend of mine who is struggling with life crossed my mind. He is a great guy but if life was a baseball game, the score would be dramatically in the other team’s favor. So, I decided to pray and pray a little more boldly than normal. Because I care for him and his family, I prayed a big but hard prayer. It went something like this, “Lord, I thank you for Steve, but he is so struggling with life.” That was the easy part—then it got harder. I said, “Lord, I am asking you to do whatever is necessary to bring him home to you and not only him but his wife and children.” Wow…that was a pretty strong prayer.
I knew I was releasing God (not that He needs releasing) and in fact was asking God to work in a way that could be good…but might well be difficult. That is the kind of prayer that just might not be appreciated…especially by the person you are praying for. But here’s what I knew—the most important thing in life, and in his life, and in their life, is God’s redemptive work. Even with all those good intentions…it was a hard prayer. But then…it got harder.
Part two of this prayer time was even harder and it was unplanned and for the most part unexpected. I began to pray this, “Lord, I want you to do whatever is necessary in my life” and it was just about then I paused. Dare I continue, dare I pray this prayer. Well, I did continue, “Lord, I want you to do whatever is necessary in my life to bring my friend Steve home to you, and his wife, and his kids.” Whoa. Did I really pray for that? Well, I did and I’m not too sure it didn’t frighten me. But I just knew that love demands those kinds of prayers.
Well, that is where I left it with God. When I get brave enough, I will probably pray the same again..and again. I’m reminded of something that Paul, the guy in the Bible, said about the Jewish people. He said, “My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them.” Wow…I can’t imagine saying that, much less praying that. That is a bold, love filled prayer.
So, if you have a prayer life and list, why not check, and see how your list looks. Is it a wish list or bold list—prayers for you or prayers for others? We probably won’t totally figure this prayer thing out this side of heaven but until then, we can trust the One to whom we pray. After all, He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 