Tuesday, November 16, 2010

But when you pray - First Note

[This is the first post on my series "But when you pray". To catch a glimpse of the background of this series please read When I didn't pray. ]

Today morning I left home angrily after losing a verbal spat with my mom. Quite obviously I forgot my umbrella and raincoat. As I reached the ground floor, I saw the gray clouds floating above;"The clouds are always fooling around, it won't really rain", I told myself.

After boarding the bus and traveling close to 10 kilometers, I heard the the sound of rain pelting hard. The sound which would have otherwise been music to my ears, now alarmed danger. I need to walk for 15 minutes from the bus stop to my office, "OHMYGOSH, It's raining so hard.. I would reach office dripping wet now!"

I sat there staring at the rain, observing the dimensions of every drop. I twisted my head sideways-upwards to catch a glimpse of the obscure skies through the rain splattered windows. My brain did some probability calculations trying to figure out when the rain would stop. For once, I really wished that the bus would slow down and reach the destination a little late.

I eyed every person with an umbrella or raincoat enviously. For me, right now, they were the happiest people in the world.

And then I started talking to God, "Oh please...I'll change....but stop the rain now". But the Master had another lesson in store.

It struck me that a praying life is quite often like an umbrella we carry.

An umbrella can't stop the rain, but it sure can cover you through the storm.

The providence of God in times of pain reaches us through prayer. We receive His promise, build our faith and stay rooted in steadfast hope through prayer. We can't control the flood or the storm by praying but we can weave a water tight basket for ourselves and others to stop us from sinking.

I am yet to experience a prayer life that can influence the will of God (if it can). But prayer for sure, helps us experience His cover of Grace and love through all difficult paths. Praying for others is like holding a bigger umbrella, covering many who are unprotected and trembling in cold. And that is the power of intercession. Going that extra mile, to enlarge our umbrella , strengthen it and extend our boundaries so that we can drawi many hurting people inside the cover of God's love.

The Bible rightly says, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." Ephesians 6:18. I like how it says "all occasions", because you never know when its going to rain. Sometimes we get busy and leave prayer behind, and then wonder why we're drenched in anxiety.

Don't ask me how prayer works. That's for each one to find it for themselves. But one thing is for sure, it works.

Don't be like me.
Carry your umbrella today,
Before you can go
Just stop and PRAY.

Callie

P.S I'm excited about how the Master started off this series, and waiting anxiously for the rest of the lessons I'm gonna learn. It would be awesome to learn together and pray together..share your lessons too.

Image Courtesy
http://img3.visualizeus.com

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I think for the first time in the recent past I have come across your writing that is simple and understandable by simple people like me. Since I am allergic to hifi words,more than 10 times I skipped reading your post "But when you pray -First note. But this post was so nice as if I was in the rain. That is what a writer has to make on his/her readers. This was one of the readable and quotable message.

God Bless You !

Abraham Manohar

Callie Ariel said...

Thanks Chithappa..I'm glad you liked it..

Kingsly said...

I love the umbrella metaphor about prayer. Excellent thought...

Callie Ariel said...

You're thought on prayer about using the Right Words http://skingsly.blogspot.com/2010/12/using-right-words.html is something we all need to reflect on..