Now, there's a question I find myself asking more frequently than I should. The last time it reared it's ugly head, I quickly retorted with a firm and memorable response that has stuck with me ever since. "Ok, Kareen." I said to myself, as patiently as I could. "I am going to say this to you as nicely as I can. Do you eat every day? Do you sleep every day? Do you breathe every day?" After a very long and deliberate pause... "Enough said!" Believe it or not, there was actually a time in my life, when the notion of avoiding prayer, was NEVER an option in my life. It didn't even come to my mind. I used to talk to God about EVERYTHING! You name it, I would say it. I remember when I was in the fifth grade in elementary school and I got into a fight with another student. She ripped the pockets off my school uniform! Ugh! If you could only see my reaction in living color... I was totally enraged. In those days, any uniform-wearing Jamaican child knew that if you showed up on your parents' door steps with any aspect of your clothing out of place, you were surely in for a remarkable beating! Or, was that just for the poor kids? Needless to say, I was mad and I couldn't wait to get home to have a very firm conversation with God about how I was going to resolve the issue of the torn uniform and to find out if He was excited about the way I gave this girl "a good beating" for doing the wrong thing. So, yes that's just a tiny example of the length and breadth of my conversations with God as a child. But as you may have guessed, the nature of my prayers soon became more complex the older I got. The more complex the life issue, the more difficult the conversation. And, by the time I became a teenager, some days, I just did not feel like talking to God. I was too angry at Him; or too disappointed or hurt. When it got so bad, that it hurt too much to be away from the one Person I truly considered to be my Best Friend, I would just sit with Him and cry. No words. Just tears. Many times, I would simply walk away and go about my day, as usual. Feeling trapped that I didn't want to be with Him but felt equally lonely without Him. Sigh. These days my prayers are sometimes still the same. But now, more than ever, I crave to be in God's presence. Our relationship has mellowed beyond friendship, I have finally gotten to the place where I cannot live without Him. My life genuinely makes no sense without Him. I have come to appreciate that Jesus' rhythmic approach to prayer is not a suggestion of how one's prayer life should be. It was a necessity. For Him to live life the way He did, He had to be in intimate contact with God several times throughout the day. He said there was absolutely nothing He did without His Fathers approval. (See: John 5:19-20, John 5:30, John 8:28, John 12:49) How did He know if the Father approved or disapproved? He stayed completely connected to the Father through regular communication with Him by means of prayer. How could He survive some of the encounters He had on earth, with the people He had to deal with? You may have already seen, in Matthew 21:12-13, that Jesus got angry sometimes, just like you and I. We all know that people did "stupid stuff" around Him all the time. So what do you think stopped Him from doing "stupid things" that pushed people away from Him? It was prayer. Being in communion with His Father always, kept Him from yielding to circumstances that could deteriorate His relationships with others, we call them temptations sometimes. So, if Jesus prayed to sustain every aspect of His life, why shouldn't I pray? Join the conversation below. Tell me what are some of the things that make you hesitant to pray? In what ways do you find yourself avoiding God? Until next time, Be blessed. If your prefer to chat via email you can reach me here.
1 Comment
Julissa
9/17/2017 05:33:22 pm
I truly enjoy reading your thoughts, thank you for sharing and keep it coming:-)
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Kareen HartleyI help women overcome chronic stress and reconnect with their purpose and passions in a way that revitalizes and energizes them.Prayer
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