Oh The Prayer Inside My Head

Saturday night, as I was brushing my teeth, I realized that I was taking Paul's advice to the Thessalonians and Philippians to a new level. Paul wrote:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

(and)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.



Concerned about the plot and characters in The Last Battle--the final book of The Chronicles of Narnia--and feeling very upset that lies were being spread about Aslan and damaging the characters' perception of the true nature of the literary character I'd most like to meet, I found myself saying:

Dear God, please let Aslan show up in the book. Let him defend himself.

Then I laughed at myself for praying such a silly prayer because I realized that CS Lewis wrote the books years ago and that there was no way that God was going to swoop down and rewrite the book. I think God chuckled, too.

Yet I think the exchange solidified something in my mind:

I have no idea how prayer works, yet I pray all the time. All day, every day, I find myself saying Dear God and then filling in whatever is on my mind. I pray about things within my grasp and things beyond my control. I pray about things past; I pray about things present; I pray about things yet to come. I pray for myself and my family and my friends. I pray for people I've known for years and for people I have yet to and probably never will meet. I pray for work. I pray for safe travels. I pray for Bullet. I pray for characters in movies and plays. I pray for my bowling scores. I pray for these notes and all of my Facebook pages. I pray with thanksgiving for indoor plumbing and hot water. I pray that a rest stop will come soon on the interstate. I pray for the reminder to brush my hair. I pray for the right words to say when people are hurting. I pray that I will be a good steward of my money. I pray. And I pray. And I keep on praying...even though prayer is one of my biggest theological struggles.

I suppose that Paul would be proud of me. And Jesus, too. And I suppose that they both might have written the status that was on the WMU NC page this morning and that I end with today:

Do you ever feel discouraged in your prayer life? If so, you're not alone. But keep praying. And keep believing. And keep remembering that we are on this faith journey together and that it requires the daily choice to keep choosing God because God has chosen us. Admit your discouragement to the God who loves you and trust that even you cannot see, believe, or understand...God IS.

By the way, Aslan WAS too :-).