Sunday, July 15, 2012

Pray away

Why do we pray?  Does it really do anything?
Doesn't God do what He will regardless of what I say to Him?

I know sometimes He does answer prayer, very clearly.  We can argue, I suppose, that God was going to do it anyway, but the Bible says that we are to pray, God hears us, mountains can be moved, so we ought to.


Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 
James 5:17
What fun and trouble a little mouth can get us into!


Sometimes, though, He doesn't answer my prayers.

Often, I have prayed for wisdom to say the right thing.  Conversation is not my strong point; I am regularly at a loss for what to say that would be helpful, right, or meaningful.  So many times over the years, I have asked Him for a less tongue-tied connection between my brain, heart, and vocal cords.  It just isn't my gift.  I can make more sense on paper than jabbering idiotically in person.  How nice it would be to have the words when I need them!

But He's never really affirmed that desire.

I know only that when I pray, instead, I have a little check on my speech.  Instead of more words, He seems to give me fewer.

In a discussion with my husband over something he was struggling to fix, I was was ready to spout off an innocent suggestion on my idea of how to try it.  That odd little thought nudged my brain as the words were forming in my throat, "Don't say it."
"Really? What harm could sharing my idea do?"  I argued with my quiet conscience.
There was no answer in the milliseconds this took.
Odd.
But I didn't say anything.  I just stood there dumbly.
He looked at me curiously.  Returning to his work, he decided to try the very thing I had never said.  You know what?  It failed miserably.
I patted myself on the back for letting my conscience keep me out of trouble.

An hour later, it happened again.  I had another brilliant idea, but, somewhat cowed by the previous lesson, when I again felt the funny little nudge to remain silent, I obeyed.
Again, he went out and came up with the very suggestion I hadn't gotten to offer.
This time, it worked.
He was beyond exhilarated at having conquered the difficult task.  I wondered why I had been told to keep quiet, when obviously it was a good idea.  But that evening, having completed that work on his own, he laughingly wrestled a long time with the boys before bed, all stress gone.  Later, he scooped me a bowl of ice cream and we snuggled on the sofa, comfortably chatting.
As I lay in bed that night replaying the scene, I smiled.  My marriage was better off that day because I kept my mouth shut.  Yes, sometimes that's obvious.  That day, it was because I hadn't said two seemly innocuous comments.  I wouldn't have known to be still if I hadn't been asking God for wisdom in my speech that week.
    
Its still true.  After spending time with the Lord, I suffer less from a sore jaw - the kind that comes from sticking my foot in my mouth too much, and from my tongue getting stuck in my cheek.  I still don't often have the right words to say, or know what would be smart or helpful conversation to build someone up or to challenge them.  It simply isn't my gift.  Perhaps that's yours.
 

Didn't Benjamin Franklin say it is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt?

Or maybe God did first.

Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; [When] he shuts his lips, [he is considered] perceptive. 
Proverbs 17:28

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