Persisting. Reverential. Always Yielding.

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. 

Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 

Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. 

The prayer of a righteous [person] is powerful and effective.

--James 5:13-16

I came to a somewhat abrupt realization a few days ago that my prayer life has not been what it should be. That with marking papers and preparing things for Sunday morning-- and yes, with having committed to blogging every day during Lent, a practice which I assumed would draw me into a focused space-- with all these things, I had become "too busy" to set aside the time I used to set aside.

And pretty soon, elephantine reminders began popping up everywhere. (I mean that literally. They were not big-- they were elephants. Everywhere.) 

At first, I thought, "Wow, how cool-- elephants!" Then another one, and another one-- and finally, I got the hint, stepped back and reflected, and in the words of a beautiful friend, was "God-smacked."

Right between the ventricles.

We (I) rationalize, sometimes, and tell ourselves-- why, sure, I am praying! I pray a lot! I am talking to God all the time as I go about my day!

And that is a good and necessary practice. But it is hardly a discipline, at least for me, and at least the way it often comes about, in desperation or petty supplication.

Plus-- it's me, talking to God. Do I let him get much of a word in edgewise?

Nah. That's why God goes all Hannibal on me and sends in the elephants. (And the dictionary.com Word of the Day. Today's word: Alembic. Anything that transforms, purifies or refines. Isn't that a great word?)

Prayer is a gift from God. It is a vital, necessary means of discerning God's path for the next step. 

Re-visit the Gospel according to Mark. How many times do we read, "Jesus went away by himself to pray," or words to that effect? He knew that in order to align his will with the Father's will, he needed to step away from the distractions of daily life in ministry.

His disciples witnessed this behavior and at one point, wisely petitioned Jesus: "Lord, teach us to pray." And he did. Gave us what we have come to know as "The Lord's Prayer."

He also reminds us that prayer is not to be done for the glory of anyone but God (Matthew 6).

Go in your room, close the door and be still before God.

And your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Be persistent in your prayer. Begin with a full box of toothpicks and use them all, if needed. (James, the author of the words above, was nicknamed, "Old Camel Knees," because he spent so much time in prayer his knees were reputed to have been calloused.)

Pray with your family of believers.

Remember, no matter how many praise choruses would have us believing Jesus is our friend, he is still God, the Almighty Creator of all that was and is and is to come. He can handle whatever we dish out-- but still, God is to be revered.

And God-- is still God. 

We serve a huge, elephantine God. Pray boldly. Pray for the child next door, and pray for the world. 

I do not understand how prayer works, but it does. 

So you had that extra day yesterday to stop for breath. Today is a new day, a new month. A time to decide again where you will place your priorities.

Wise and wonderful Lord, we are grateful for the gift of prayer, even as we do not understand how it works. Thank you for allowing us to draw ever closer, to lay our burdens at your feet and know that you have heard our cries. Help us to know your holy presence in our lives-- even when we get lazy. Amen.