Why Pray?
In a rare and yet beautiful moment, my teenager and I spent a good evening together running errands. He practiced driving in the daylight on a busy expressway and also in the dark during the rain. We collected necessary items for the upcoming weeks, bought groceries, and decided to go out for dinner together. I had never been to 5 Guys for burgers, but my son insisted that their food was very good, even if it was a bit pricey. So we ordered, waited, and chatted. When they called our number, we received a bag filled with wonderful smells, and after I had dragged my son all over town, he was hungry and eager to eat. But first, we prayed - quietly and to ourselves.
"Mom, what took you so long?" said the very hungry man sized child.
"I had a lot to pray about," I replied.
My son didn't really care to hear the specifics of what I was praying about. His hunger overcame him and he promptly dug in after I had opened my eyes and almost before he finished his question. But he was perplexed as to why, when we were so very hungry, I paused my life to talk intentionally and only to God.
It could be that my mother taught me to pray from the time I was very little. It certainly was a very important aspect of my childhood. It could be that my Grandma always pointed me to Christ whenever I had trouble. It could be that I learned the importance of prayer in Sunday School or that the prayers of David in the Psalms sank deep into my heart during my own study time. But ultimately, it is God who draws me close to Him.
How many of us can call up the president and express our concerns or give thanks? How many of us have access to the kings and queens of the world? I'm just a nobody, but yet God allows me to come to Him - the Creator, Savior, and Master of the Universe. It isn't always in the forefront of our minds how big God is, so I regularly read Job 38-41. Here is a very brief excerpt from Job 38:4-11. God is questioning Job, but really His questions are rhetorical and meant to remind us of God's unfathomable greatness:
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
“Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
This line of questioning goes on and on, and sometimes I chuckle because the tone God takes with Job is sometimes the tone I take with my own teenager. I can see myself - my proud haughty self - in my son. And yet, this great, wonderful, magnificent God always has time for me. When I am talking with a friend on the phone, I have to shut myself in my bedroom so that my children don't constantly interrupt me. But sometimes their pleas for attention are so loud, I have to retreat further into the bathroom. As a mere human, I am only able to process one conversation at a time. But God never shuts Himself away. He's always available. This God who is far greater than anyone on Earth, always has time for me. He enjoys our time together - our conversations. He's always listening, always teaching, always comforting, always disciplining. While He juggles the weight of the world without stress or worry, He gives me His attention. And that is why I pray.
If the Lord in all His greatness knows and loves me, I will take many opportunities to talk with Him. It may delay my dinner momentarily, but it fills my life eternally.
"Mom, what took you so long?" said the very hungry man sized child.
"I had a lot to pray about," I replied.
My son didn't really care to hear the specifics of what I was praying about. His hunger overcame him and he promptly dug in after I had opened my eyes and almost before he finished his question. But he was perplexed as to why, when we were so very hungry, I paused my life to talk intentionally and only to God.
It could be that my mother taught me to pray from the time I was very little. It certainly was a very important aspect of my childhood. It could be that my Grandma always pointed me to Christ whenever I had trouble. It could be that I learned the importance of prayer in Sunday School or that the prayers of David in the Psalms sank deep into my heart during my own study time. But ultimately, it is God who draws me close to Him.
How many of us can call up the president and express our concerns or give thanks? How many of us have access to the kings and queens of the world? I'm just a nobody, but yet God allows me to come to Him - the Creator, Savior, and Master of the Universe. It isn't always in the forefront of our minds how big God is, so I regularly read Job 38-41. Here is a very brief excerpt from Job 38:4-11. God is questioning Job, but really His questions are rhetorical and meant to remind us of God's unfathomable greatness:
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
“Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
This line of questioning goes on and on, and sometimes I chuckle because the tone God takes with Job is sometimes the tone I take with my own teenager. I can see myself - my proud haughty self - in my son. And yet, this great, wonderful, magnificent God always has time for me. When I am talking with a friend on the phone, I have to shut myself in my bedroom so that my children don't constantly interrupt me. But sometimes their pleas for attention are so loud, I have to retreat further into the bathroom. As a mere human, I am only able to process one conversation at a time. But God never shuts Himself away. He's always available. This God who is far greater than anyone on Earth, always has time for me. He enjoys our time together - our conversations. He's always listening, always teaching, always comforting, always disciplining. While He juggles the weight of the world without stress or worry, He gives me His attention. And that is why I pray.
If the Lord in all His greatness knows and loves me, I will take many opportunities to talk with Him. It may delay my dinner momentarily, but it fills my life eternally.
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