A Lesson From My Mother-in-Law
I know a good number of you probably clicked on this post after seeing the title, thinking I would reveal some sort of embarrassing story about my mother-in-law. Fooled you! I actually enjoy a good relationship with my in-laws and wanted to share something my mother-in-law did that really impressed me…
Did You Think To Pray?
Earlier this week my mother-in-law was asked to lead a prayer in a ladies Bible class that meets at our church. Class is at 10am and around 8:30am she sat down to think about the prayer and pray about the prayer. The knowledge that she put that much effort into leading a prayer really resonated with me, but I will talk about that more in a second.
There is also a somewhat humorous but also very insightful hook to this story as well. She became so deeply engaged in prayer and thought that she lost track of time and was late to ladies Bible class. No, she didn’t fall asleep as some of us might be apt to do. She was fully caught up in prayer and thought. The ladies were kind enough to let her say the prayer at the end of class instead of the beginning as is tradition.
I Pray But Do I PRAY?
I don’t know about you, but I pray and pray often. But I’m not sure I have prayed like my mother-in-law prayed in a long time. Prayer will be different things and done in different ways for different people. We all have a unique style of communication that works for us. The key is that we are actively communicating with God.
There are other people in my life I look to for examples in prayer. There is a man at church I’ll call Ted, because that is his name. When Ted knows he is going to lead a prayer in a worship service he takes the time to write out his prayer and really think about it. He leads the congregation in some of the most thought-filled prayers you can think of. I appreciate his effort in preparing to be a part of our worship together.
I also appreciate the prayers of my wife. She is a nurse in a unit where some people are facing dangerous surgeries. I recently found out that she sometimes prays with her patients in the middle of that busy unit. I’m sure it is against some regulation somewhere but the patients are asking for the comfort that prayer, not medication, can provide. A hospital chaplain might do the same thing but the impact of someone praying with you when it is not part of their job description is undeniable.
Final Thought
Every prayer is not going to be a masterpiece just like every conversation with your spouse or best friend won’t be the best conversation you have ever had. Thinking about what we pray, sometimes planning it out, and taking the opportunities that are given to us all help to move prayer beyond the norm and routine.
I’d like to end this post with the words of a hymn we sometimes sing at our church. It was written a long time ago by Mary Pepper Kidder, which explains some of the terminology that is used. But the message of the song is timeless…
Did You Think To Pray?
Ere you left your room this morning,
Did you think to pray?
In the name of Christ, our Savior,
Did you sue for loving favor
As a shield today?[Chorus]
Oh, how praying rests the weary!
Prayer will change the night to day.
So, when life gets dark and dreary,
Don’t forget to pray.When your heart was filled with anger,
Did you think to pray?
Did you plead for grace, my brother,
That you might forgive another
Who had crossed your way?When sore trials came upon you,
Did you think to pray?
When your soul was full of sorrow,
Balm of Gilead did you borrow
At the gates of day?
When I pray by myself, my prayers usually fall into 1 of 2 areas. Either (what I consider) long and involved prayers (complicated, redundant, half-thoughted, over fretted, to name a few aspects) or very short specific prayers about someone, something, some situation, and (VERY important) THANKS for everything from a magnificent sky to the roof not leaking to getting home safely, etc. BUT, when I pray in congregational worship I realize there is a TON of responsibility! I’m not just praying for me, but I’m praying for over 100 other people as well, and I’m addressing the creator of EVERYTHING, not some ceo, not the president, but GOD!
Good thoughts Ted…and interesting insight into your personal prayer life. I always appreciate your prayers in our worship assembly.
When I sat in church with young active children who had been sitting for quite some time I would sometime find myself getting annoyed when someone would get up and then lead a rather long closing prayer as I am trying to just keep my kids quiet for a few more minutes and not strangle them, and I would not be able to concentrate on the prayer at all and I found myself resenting when that person got up to pray. Later we started having small groups and he was in our small group and we let our kids play in another room so we could get what we needed out of that study and I grew an admiration for the man involved. When I could concentrate on the sincerity of his prayer and see his heart where it came from it had so much more meaning. I do feel that women need to be taught to pray somehow (not in the worship or in a mixed setting) maybe at a younger age or something but I find we don’t have many women who are willing to lead the prayer in ladies’ class or when several of us go out to eat. I know that I will always be leading the prayer at lunch because of the several of us that go most don’t feel comfortable doing this. I find that sad. Another thought provoking post, thanks Jon.