Sometimes prayer itself can be exhausting, IF all we do is flash our requests over and over again in front of God’s face, hoping he’ll finally get the message and answer us. Just recently, I felt like that’s about all my prayers amounted to – flash cards. I gently heard God tell me that I was treating him as if he were a child learning his multiplication tables, and my job was to use flash cards until the kid gets the facts! Only, God is not a child! Ouch, it hurt a bit to realize what I’d been doing.
However, as God always does with his revelations to us, He showed me a better way to pray. I knew this, but I had succumbed to rote prayers of repetition because my list was so long, and He seemed to be so slow in answering! He gently asked me to take my 52 (more or less) cards of prayer requests and lay them out around his feet. He then asked me to crawl up in His lap and see them from his vantage point. I became aware of how he sees and knows every request I have, and they are at his feet at all times. He further told me to rest.
Wow. No wonder I’d been exhausted when I had prayed. Now that I let go of what concerned me, realized that He had it all under his control, I was able to rest and listen to His heart.
Prayer is so much more than presenting our requests to Him over and over again. It’s sort of like batting a tennis ball up against a concrete wall, only to have it come back to hit again. There’s really no interaction, and weariness begins to set in over time. However, sitting on His lap and addressing what interests Him is so much more effective, so much more enjoyable, and honestly invigorating. My 52-card pile up is under his watchful eye, my prayers become full of thanksgiving and praise, and I know the master Dealer always has a winning hand…
Tired of praying? Lay out your cards at his feet. Crawl into His lap…and rest.
Marcy Lytle