Thursday, September 13, 2012
Prayer of a Tangled Necklace
This morning I wore a shirt that *required* me to wear this beautiful blue and purple gemstone necklace that I never get to wear. I found it tangled in the midst of several other necklaces. As I started to untangle it, I had a spiritual crisis of sorts.
My time was running low and I really really wanted this necklace. I half laughingly and half seriously said a prayer out loud "God, please help me get this necklace untangled!" As I worked, I went through a spiritual journey.
As I prayed this strange prayer, I started imagining God answering it. What an amazing blog post! I could write about how God answers prayers from His children, even over silly things. Then however, I started wondering if planning a blog post in advance about how God answers prayers might be testing God. Would God help me get my necklace untangled if I wanted to use the story for publicity? I switched my prayer to a prayer of repentance, but asked that God still help me untangle my necklace anyway, because it would look smashing with the shirt I was wearing.
As I continued to work, I thought about how prayer is kind of like a tangled necklace. We have all of these different reasons and motivations and they may or may not hinder us from getting to the purpose of prayer. But does that mean that praying successfully is like showing off a beautiful necklace? Perhaps I went to metaphorical with this.
I continue to untangle. This time my thoughts took a dreaded turn. I started to think about what it would mean if God did help me get this necklace untangled. It would be wonderful, but what does it say about God that He would help me untangle a necklace but not save my dying mother from cancer? I shuddered and kept working.
Do we pray for ourselves? Do we pray for God? Do unanswered prayers bring us faith or do answered prayers do that? Why does God answer some prayers and not others, especially answer prayers that are trivial and not the ones that change lives? Does God really care if I get this necklace untangled? If He does answer it, is He a trivial God?
I got the necklace untangled, but I think I know less about prayer then when I started.
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Thursday, September 13, 2012
Prayer of a Tangled Necklace
This morning I wore a shirt that *required* me to wear this beautiful blue and purple gemstone necklace that I never get to wear. I found it tangled in the midst of several other necklaces. As I started to untangle it, I had a spiritual crisis of sorts.
My time was running low and I really really wanted this necklace. I half laughingly and half seriously said a prayer out loud "God, please help me get this necklace untangled!" As I worked, I went through a spiritual journey.
As I prayed this strange prayer, I started imagining God answering it. What an amazing blog post! I could write about how God answers prayers from His children, even over silly things. Then however, I started wondering if planning a blog post in advance about how God answers prayers might be testing God. Would God help me get my necklace untangled if I wanted to use the story for publicity? I switched my prayer to a prayer of repentance, but asked that God still help me untangle my necklace anyway, because it would look smashing with the shirt I was wearing.
As I continued to work, I thought about how prayer is kind of like a tangled necklace. We have all of these different reasons and motivations and they may or may not hinder us from getting to the purpose of prayer. But does that mean that praying successfully is like showing off a beautiful necklace? Perhaps I went to metaphorical with this.
I continue to untangle. This time my thoughts took a dreaded turn. I started to think about what it would mean if God did help me get this necklace untangled. It would be wonderful, but what does it say about God that He would help me untangle a necklace but not save my dying mother from cancer? I shuddered and kept working.
Do we pray for ourselves? Do we pray for God? Do unanswered prayers bring us faith or do answered prayers do that? Why does God answer some prayers and not others, especially answer prayers that are trivial and not the ones that change lives? Does God really care if I get this necklace untangled? If He does answer it, is He a trivial God?
I got the necklace untangled, but I think I know less about prayer then when I started.
2 comments:
hmmm... I"m glad only God has to deal with omniscience... My mind is blown. I agree with your last sentence.. my last post (is a mess) but was about prayer... http://anothermccoy.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeletei just saw this quote via fb:
ReplyDelete
Often I have heard people say, "How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic, and look at the lovely weather!" Yes, God is good when He sends good weather. But God was also good when He allowed my sister, Betsie, to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged there. Everything around us was dark, and there was darkness in my heart. I remember telling Betsie that I thought God had forgotten us. "No, Corrie," said Betsie, "He has not forgotten us. Remember His Word: "For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him." Corrie concludes, "There is an ocean of God's love available - there is plenty for everyone. May God grant you never to doubt that victorious love - whatever the circumstances."
Corrie Ten Boom
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hmmm... I"m glad only God has to deal with omniscience... My mind is blown. I agree with your last sentence.. my last post (is a mess) but was about prayer... http://anothermccoy.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeletei just saw this quote via fb:
ReplyDeleteOften I have heard people say, "How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic, and look at the lovely weather!" Yes, God is good when He sends good weather. But God was also good when He allowed my sister, Betsie, to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged there. Everything around us was dark, and there was darkness in my heart. I remember telling Betsie that I thought God had forgotten us. "No, Corrie," said Betsie, "He has not forgotten us. Remember His Word: "For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him." Corrie concludes, "There is an ocean of God's love available - there is plenty for everyone. May God grant you never to doubt that victorious love - whatever the circumstances."
Corrie Ten Boom