HURRIED PRAYERS
In the Christian Church
where I belong, Wednesday of the week is devoted to prayer meeting. The midweek
prayer is a welcome break from the daily
grind. Here we can bare our souls to God, pray, and be prayed upon. It is a time of refreshing as we cast our
worldly cares upon our Savior, and vow
not to pick them up again. It gives us the opportunity to be quiet, and still,
that we may hear God’s voice.
In one of these days, I am perplexed to hear the worship leader say he is giving us ten minutes to pray, as if speed is
all there is to it in the act of prayer.
Why pray when everyone is
in a hurry. This is terrible.
Why is it that we have to
set deadlines, and time patterns even the realm of the spirit?
Churches nowadays are
establishing timelines for every activity under heaven, that everything is rushed
and completed to be offered in the altar of measured time. Every act of worship and service is severely
measured.
In my moments of
naughtiness, I intentionally defy the bell that rings, calling, time is up!
Perhaps some of us have forgotten that our Master and
Teacher was never concerned about keeping appointments in terms of measured
time. He prayed with no deadlines, even if it took Him the whole night. He used
every opportunity, without the slightest care for time. He slept when tired. He
did not show disdain of the interruptions that came along His way. Schedules
didn’t rule. He even chose to dillydally to prove a point and perform an awesome
miracle, by raising a dead man.
If we only realize that
real moments and events are God-given opportunities which we should take and
make use of, maybe we will not be acting like time keepers, keeping track of everything. Maybe we will
have deeper and fruitful moments of prayer. Maybe we will sooner realize that sending
hurried prayers to Heaven are no prayers at all.
