Conversations with God Part Two
“Pray, then, in this way:
Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name…”
Matthew 6: 9
In opposition to Jesus’ instructions, do you recite The Lord’s Prayer by rote and without reflection? Or do you bookend your prayers with reverence and understand the honor of discussing your hardships with the Almighty and His Son? You always have permission to plead your case before the Way Maker and should never minimize the importance of this act of holy communication.
On Earth, you don’t have access to that kind of divine interaction. You can’t fly to Rome, drive to the Vatican and request an audience with the Pope. You are barred from strolling into Buckingham Palace and discussing your problems over high tea with the King of the United Kingdom. You can’t show up at the White House’s Oval Office for a chat with the President.
These men are the world’s most powerful leaders, but they are just that: men who are mere mortals. They can do nothing to resolve your health issue. They can provide no comfort when a loved one is injured or dying. They cannot steer a wayward child onto the straight and narrow, nor glue back together a shattered marriage.
The Ruler of the Universe has erected no barriers to stop you from calling on Him: in the midnight hour, long before sunrise or the middle of the afternoon; whether you’re dressed to the nines or you’re in your sweaty mowing-the-yard clothes, whether you’re caught
in traffic on a vehicle congested highway or you’re utterly and completely alone; whether you cry out at the top of your voice or talk to Him only in your head.
He’s not a way out there next to Jupiter god. He wants to be involved in every part of your life: the major and the minor; the good, the bad and the ugly; in dire need or in a celebratory dance. Always, He is watching over us.
You can unload upon Him your worries and your fears. He knows them all before you bow your knee, anyway, and already has a plan. Yet sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers or respond to them in a way we expect.
A minister we know had a professor in Bible college who demonstrated the relationship between the King and His kids. Climbing upon his desk, the professor towered over the classroom and pointed down. “Pretend I’m God and you’re an ant. Imagine the ant struggling over that pencil. He thinks, ‘Whew! That was a big one’, but he has no idea what he’ll soon face “The ant’s next obstacle is a stack of books. He stares upward and can’t even see the top. He leaps upon the edge of the first one, hangs by one leg, makes a little progress, loses it, then slides back down. He starts over again and again until he finally makes it to the top where he peeks over the edge. In exhaustion, he lays his head down. Before him lies a vast stretch of nothingness; it will take forever to reach the other side. He pushes himself up and onward through the long journey, only to skid down the other side of the books and land hard on the rough surface. “Then comes the apple. The ant believes he’ll never reach the crest of that rounded mountain since he keeps slip-sliding down the shiny sides. When he finally makes it there, he is too weak to avoid a fall into the valley of the core. He fights fiercely, but the more he struggles, the deeper he sinks. Finally, legs aching and trembling, he hauls himself out. The frantic, way too fast slide down the side leaves him catching only air just before he faces plants on the desk. Vision spinning, he lifts his head, then spots his colony waiting to lead him home. They had been there all along.
“From God’s view, I see the ant’s journey and know when he will cross the small test
barrier, then traverse a vast surface that he believed was wilderness. He did not understand that the smooth stretch was a place for him to rest and refresh before he takes on a pit that will require all his strength to escape.
“I know the beginning. I know the end. The ant doesn’t, so he must trust me. Just like the colony, I’ll be there waiting for you at the end.”
When we make decisions about our offspring, they may not like or understand them. As children of Father God, when we entrust our lives into His hands, we must rely on His foresight. If we open our eyes, we can see His provision.
Because He listens.
Because He is ever present.
Because He knows what is best for us.
By Elaine Hall
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