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Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Prayer: A Mystery Unfolds

We lead a prayer ministry at our church.  So I feel like I think about prayer fairly often.  But this week the morning show I listen to (The Walley Show) was talking about prayer, specifically about when prayers are unanswered or answered in a way that we weren’t really hoping for or expecting.  They had many examples of how these unanswered prayers lead to bigger things that they just couldn’t see.  Which I agree happens often, but not always.  Recently I’ve also watched a relatively new believer blossom into a beautiful example of Christian boldness emboldened by the Holy Spirit. We also have come to realize that many struggle to attend our prayer gathering because of a fear of praying a loud, or a fear of praying wrong. I’ve watched Christians grapple with this concept of corporate prayer and have been moved and touched by the words that they themselves feel fall short. So I’ve been thinking a lot more about prayer this week.

Prayer is indeed mysterious.  To me, prayer has always seemed simple on so many levels. I grew up Catholic and my youthful prayers were either repetitive rote memorization or easy flowing conversations (many times one sided conversations) with God.  It was a lot of asking, a little thinking, and many times it felt desperate.  As I’ve grown as a Christian, delved deeper into the Word, and walked through spiritual battles, my concept of prayer has definitely evolved. It is far from simple.  But in many ways, it is still very mysterious- and there are many things I don’t understand.