Good morning…
As we settle into non-anxious silence, God’s inner music begins to beacon. We are gently drawn toward the peace, the power, the presence of God.
“Sue,” she wrote after yesterday’s blog post, “I always feel overwhelmed by the number of people that I love who desperately need prayer. I could sit all day and hope to get through only part of the list. Could you talk a little more about how you make sure everyone is covered? I know my little prayers do not make or break what God can do. But it’s the only way I can reach out in love to some people. Thank you for all you do, dear friend.”
“You ask a really great question here,” I replied. “I feel like prayer is the best gift we can bring to anyone. The form of prayer captivating me most right now involves a nugget I learned from our study of Henri Nouwen’s book The Way of the Heart. We learned about the scripture verse ‘Pray always.’ or ‘Pray unceasingly.’ In its original language, the phrase means ‘Come to rest.’ ‘Come to rest with God.'”
“When a worry or concern or a person’s name rises up in me any time of day or night, I try to take quiet time to process my emotions,” I explained. “I ‘come to rest’ with God on behalf of the issue, the person, the situation. As I gradually ‘come to rest,’ surrendering myself to a place of peace, I trust that God is somehow at work. Resting in silence, I notice God’s amazing power slowly rise up, to heal, to expand, to transform everything. When life gets hard and heavy, I live the progression identified in our blog post from Lamentations 3. I go off by myself. I enter the silence. I bow (surrender myself completely) in prayer. I don’t ask questions, instead I listen for God’s subtle movement. Then I wait for hope to appear. Fresh hope rises up in uncanny ways, and I know it is a supernatural gift from God, this shift in me from worry to trust.”
“When I am able ‘come to rest’ with God on all these major issues, I bring with me a non-anxious presence wherever I go,” I conclude. “The people who fill my mind and heart are bathed in the peaceful silence only God can expand in me. What are your thoughts about this way of praying?”
“I love this,” she wrote back. “It’s pretty much what I do. But there are times when someone I’m not close to has a need and I say I’ll pray for them. I do it right away, but know I might not think of it again for weeks if it seems frivolous in my eyes compared to others. I know that sounds judgey and God cares about even the little things. But my human heart and mind can’t contain it all. There are so many people I honestly care about but don’t have the capacity to pray without ceasing for every single one. I know the Holy Spirit intervenes there. I’m just not sure what my role is from there on.”
“For me, I sense that my role is to trust that God will bring to mind the people who need my prayers at the time they most need my invisible presence,” I added. “I have heard from so many people that they can tangibly feel a web of prayer surrounding them exactly when they need it most. This is something only the Spirit of God can orchestrate. We just keep our finger on the Spirit’s pulse, feeling the flow of God’s life-giving energy coursing through us, spreading out to offer loving support to others. Unceasing prayer becomes our way of life, the experience of living fully in the moment with God and each other, those nearby and those far away. Being inspired to pray wordlessly when the Spirit moves is the very best gift we can bring to our hurting world.”
When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The “worst” is never the worst (Lamentations 3:28-30, MSG).
…Sue…
P.S. Continuing to adapt well to his new heart, today James turns 66. What a memorable birthday week! Elizabeth was unanimously accepted as a cancer patient at Duke, with her surgery scheduled for mid November. With the help of a kind nurse, my dad is gaining peaceful confidence with the care of my mom’s colostomy bag. Audrey and Jennifer traveled to Philadelphia yesterday to prepare for Audrey’s second round of radioactive therapy tomorrow. Jerry is in the ICU battling sepsis with Anne by his side. Dear friends support loved ones dealing with the many losses related to Alzheimers. People on our church’s private prayer list regularly come to mind. As I “come to rest” with God amid all of these deep, deep needs, I keep my finger on the pulse of the Spirit as prayers effortlessly expand out from my extended silence.
Throughout the ebb and flow of this day, who might God bring to mind in your silent prayers?
