Monday Morning Devotion-August 14, 2023
Speed Bumps in Prayer
O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God. Daniel 9:19
*from January 29, 20ll
Here's the deal so keep this in mind. Praying hard is not the path of least resistance. Praying hard is hard because it's hard. Huh? Say what?
OK don't blame me for this obfuscation (how do you like that big word?) I came across this in my daily reading of "Draw the Circle" by Mark Batterson. I was intrigued by that statement because I am basically intrigued by anything concerning prayer.
I can't imagine making it through a day without praying---multiple times. Anyway, the reason praying hard is not the path of least resistance rather it is the path of most resistance because that is when we become really engaged in spiritual warfare.
Obviously when we lift up a prayer to God, especially a prayer of urgency we are hoping for an immediate answer. Frequently, in fact most of the time, we don't get that. Why? Well, it is not because God has better things to do. It's usually because He has a better plan, and this plan will take some time.
Now, here's where the obfuscation part comes in. BTW the meaning of that is "the art of making something obscure, unclear or unintelligible." That's what Satan likes to do. He is a master of confusing us. He wants us to think that God is not listening or that He has better things to do. Nothing could be further from the truth.
But as Batterson says "it's the prayers you pray when you feel like you want to quit praying that can bring the greatest breakthroughs."
I have prayer requests that are seeking answers that I have been praying for a long time : I'm still waiting for guidance on. I keep praying them because I think that I am receiving answers. Those are "not yet."
I keep on because I think of stories of how obedience and perseverance were rewarded. Remember Joshua and the Israelites being told to march around the seemingly impenetrable walls of Jericho seven times a day for seven days. What if they thought after six days, "This is hopeless" and stopped doing it. They would have stopped just short of a miracle.
Have you ever stopped short of a miracle or at least a definitive answer from God? Can you think of a time when you just stopped praying about something that you had been sharing with God for a long time? It was very important to you, but you stopped praying about it because you just felt like it was hopeless. Is that the answer you received from God---a "not?"
Or was it still a "not yet?"
Batterson likes to talk about the branch of history he calls "counterfactual theory." It is the art of asking "what if" questions. Like what if Elijah had quit praying for rain after six requests or what if Naaman had only dipped in the river six times when he had been instructed to dip seven times to be cured of leprosy.
What have you stopped short in praying for? Was the degree of difficulty simply a "speed bump," something to slow you down. When you drive down a neighborhood street or a school zone or through some area that has speed bumps you don't stop or just quit driving and get out of your car do you? No, you slow down, knowing that when you get out of that area you can speed up.
Why wouldn't that be the same with God and your prayers? Maybe those speed bumps---the absence of immediate answers or solutions---are intentional. They are intended to slow you down, not stop you.
One morning TLS and I were reading our morning devotions, separately but the same Sarah Young passages. We stopped and looked at each other and smiled. There were some things, one in particular, that we were praying about and we, truthfully, wanted to hurry God up.
Here's what stopped us: "He is in control. These words should wash over you---repeatedly---like the soothing waves on a beautiful beach ensuring you of my endless love. You waste a lot of time and energy trying to figure out things before their time has come. Be on the lookout for some wonderful surprises---circumstances that only God could have orchestrated."
I love what Batterson calls these: "Holy Surprises." Those are the best kind. He then adds this: "God likes to show up and show off." Wow. How cool is that?
In closing, let me share this Batterson story which beautifully shows how God enabled one man, on the verge of giving up, to negotiate that last speed bump
Tony moved to Washington for a noble cause. He wanted to get Congress to add an amendment to a bill that would require the television cable industry to scramble adult channels that were only one click away from cartoon channels frequented by children.
He started out to visit the offices of all 435 House offices and 100 Senate offices. He had been praying hard, as if it was up to God and working hard as if it was up to him. When he walked out of the 220th office he was depressed. He had encountered a speed bump that was
likely to send him back home to California in defeat.
He was told that the telecommunications bill that he was trying to get his amendment attached to would not be opened because to do so would open it up for all the other amendments others wanted attached.
He sat down, looking out a window, in obvious defeat, ready to return home. "Then he prayed and heard the Lord say to him: "Who is doing this? Me or you?" His spirits lifted and he returned to the task. As he exited the 435th office his pager went off. The chairman had allowed his amendment to be added to the telecommunications bill. Speed bump negotiated!
What speed bump will the Lord help you surmount today?
Prayer: Lord we know there will be speed bumps on the paths our prayers take us along. Help us to remember these just slow us down, not beat us. You are undefeated.
Amen!