Sunday, June 26, 2016

prayer interrupted

Lewis tells us today that if we're praying and realize that we need to help the wife wash dishes, to stop praying and go do it. He says this in A Year with C.S. Lewis.

I agree with him halfway. It reminds me of a funny story when I was in college. A friend of mine was trying to have his "quiet time" in his dorm room one day. He was trying to spend time in prayer and Bible study. His roommate kept interrupting him and talking to him and joking with him. He finally yelled at his roommate to leave him alone so he could have his quiet time!

You see the two extremes. I think that wisdom (as it often does) has us walk the path between the two. Many times when I'm on my prayer walk, my phone lets me know that someone has messaged me. It would be easy to see this as an interruption and to ignore the message. After all, isn't it more important that I spend time with God?

But it's not either/or. As with so many things in our spiritual lives, it's both/and. Many times, when I take that message, I hear from a friend who needs prayer. And I can take it to Him right then. Many times, I need to give the person advice, and my prayer gives me the wisdom I so desperately need to give decent advice.

You might remember I talked about ora et labora in a previous blog. Prayer and work. And that concept applies to our relationships, too. So, to revisit our two stories, should the man who is praying and remembers his wife who needs help stop praying and help her? No. He should KEEP praying, and help her. Should my friend push his roommate out of the room (or find a place away from him) to have his time with God? Well, maybe. But maybe he can spend time with God, in prayer, while talking to his roommate.

We can involve God in everything we do. That is, actually, what "pray without ceasing" means. And you'll find that when we involve Him in our everyday activities, He transforms them into much more amazing versions of themselves.

Thanks, God, for helping us invite You into every aspect of our lives.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Such a great word and so true. Pray with ceasing is just that. Pray while you are doing...like you said it give you wisdom and many times the right Godly encouragement the person needs right then and now. God isn't like a coat that we just put on when it is cold. He is more like skin He is with and on us everywhere we go. We can't take our skin so why do want to take God off. He is the reason we are alive whether we live with or not He truly is the reason. His unconditional love is with us alway...and is waiting to bless us with super natural blessing and to give us the desires of our heaet. Just keep walking with Him...keep praying. And wait and see!

Unknown said...
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Julie said...

If we are in prayer to God He will direct our path to either keep praying and/or respond to the disruption.