lonely – Hope Walking

How many persons can you name whose prayers are recorded in the Bible? Stop now and make a list. Then note where and why they prayed.

STOP NOW and make your list.

Did anything about your list surprise you? Maybe you are surprised by how few prayers you can remember.

I can help you. In the Bible the first person who prayed was Adam: then the man (Adam) said, “This at last is bone of my bones!” Prayer is talking to God, and Adam is expressing his delight with Eve to God. I am sure Adam is talking to God, because there is no one else there. Our prayers, too, can be spontaneous exclamations of joy or sorrow.

Here’s another famous prayer story: Daniel in the lions den. Did you know Daniel was thrown in the den of hungry lions because he was praying and giving thanks to God? Then it was the King, who threw Daniel in, who prayed the lions wouldn’t eat Daniel! You can read it in Daniel chapter 6.

See if you can guess who prayed this: “In my distress, O LORD, I called to you, and you answered me. From deep in the world of the dead I cried for help, and you heard me.”

Give up? Here’s another hint: “The water came over me and choked me; the sea covered me completely, and seaweed wrapped around my head.” That’s right; it’s Jonah. Who else would be praying with seaweed around his head?

As you can see, we can pray any time and our prayers can express, joy, thankfulness, desperation and terror.

And we can pray anywhere. Jesus prayed publicly and he prayed alone. (see my blog on praying in secret.) Even in our noisy world we can get with God and talk. Susanna Wesley, mother of Charles, John and a bunch of other kids, was known for praying with her apron thrown over her head so she could be alone with God and pray.

Pray because you are thankful. Pray because you are loved.

Pray because you are lonely; God always listens.

Pray because God invites you to: “Call to me when trouble comes; I will save you, and you will praise me.”

Pray because God cares for you. ”Praise him, you servants of the LORD!……He does not neglect the poor or ignore their suffering; he does not turn away from them, but answers when they call for help.”

Scripture references: Genesis 2:23, Jonah 2:2, Psalms 50:15, Psalm 22:23

Saying our means you are with someone. You belong to a group. That group may be as large as the earth (our planet) or as small as just two (our marriage.) Size doesn’t matter; our means you are not alone.

Loneliness plagues our planet, and, as we are hearing now, may be more devastating than our current viral plague. Even before COVID-19 Great Britain saw a need to have a Minister of Loneliness to fight the pandemic of feeling isolated and lonely.

God, himself, told us from the start, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” (Genesis 2:18)

Take a look now at the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. Read it and then count the first person plural pronouns us and we.

Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,

may your kingdom come,

may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

God does not desire us to live alone and lonely. Jesus in many ways and in this prayer invites you to be with him and all his followers.

There are Christians all over the world right this minute praying this prayer. Some are parents teaching it to their little ones. Some are followers in empty churches or prison cells. Some are in full churches. Some are soldiers and sailors far from home. Some are at weddings. Some are at funerals. Some are nurses holding the hand of a dying grandfather. All are praying it together. All are praying it with you. You are not alone.

True story: During World War II my father was on a Navy vessel half a world away from my mother in New Jersey, They had always prayed this prayer together before they went to sleep. Then thousands of miles of land and ocean separated them. One night my mother awoke from a vivid dream. She had dreamt she was kneeling by her bed with my father praying the Lord’s Prayer. The dream was so real she wrote to him about it. He wrote back that the very hour she dreamed, he was leading a service on deck and praying the prayer.

I hope you will go back now and pray this slowly, thinking about every our and we, and who is praying with you. You are family. You are not alone.

Tag: lonely

Why Pray?

Pray Like This…..”Our”