More on prayer...

A friend of mine from Tabitha wrote the following, something I resonate with, something I'd like to remember...

"Hidden within me is a heart that is reluctant - even fearful - to be with God in prayer. When I set aside times of silence, prayer does not come easily for me, or at least not as easily as anxiety, self-condemnation and pride. Why is it that our times of solitude and searching after God seem to arrive more often at emptiness than the promised embrace? If I show up, will He be there? And if he is there, how will he respond to my exposed heart? My fear of such raw questions causes me to maintain my distance, and thus my spirituality becomes duty, discipline and productivity - anything but intimate encounter...

We are good at having a sense of obligation - we are even better at self-condemnation - but somehow have lost the sense of invitation that might be the crux of Jesus Christ. God has come to us. Will we come to him? As we come, stumbling and unsure, I believe he will teach us how to come. For as unique as every heart, there are many ways to enter prayer. Prayer is a cry of desire. It opens ourselves to relationship while claiming the courage to traverse doubt, see our nakedness, and await a Presence we cannot contain or control. How God shows up is not our agenda. The Scriptures, lest we forget, reveal a God who dwells among us most unpredictably. He shows up according to his plans, teaching us in both absence and presence. But will we come? And if we find only our famished souls, will we praise him for that, too? Perhaps he is exposing hunger, even while preparing a banquet table.

May our prayers be used by God to teach us how to be with him, laying aside expectation and simply responding to Christ - the incarnate invitation."

Amen, Kim!