Prayer Is More Than Praying

I thought of entitling this, "Don't Ruin Prayer By Praying." But I thought better of it, not because it isn't what I meant to say, but because it comes at my subject from a too negative point of view. Still, there is truth enough in the alternate title to mention it.

I woke up this Christmas morning with a certain glee, a warm contentedness connected to, though not necessarily dependent on the holiday. It was because I was walking with Jesus. There was a certain joy attending my morning. Do you ever have such a satisfied sense of God's presence that you don't want it to go away? No one was up yet (I habitually am up well before the household). So, as I began to align myself to a new day, assembling the typical tools--Bible, laptop and books--it became apparent none of these would immediately reinforce this sense of communion with God. Still, two ideas converged to assist in my appreciation of this evidently subjective state.

First, as I routinely prepared Christmas Blend (Starbucks) coffee, my mind kept ruminating on likely subjects for intercession. It seemed that with such a clear and blessed sense upon me, I should put people or issues into my prayers as petitions. Now, there is certainly a need for such prayers, no doubt. Scripture clearly commands it. What happened was a sort of "knee-jerk" reaction. I found no compelling reason to add anything to this time of communion. Rather, I felt that I should just enjoy "walking" with God. It was a pleasant occasion, if puzzling.

Second, about this time another thing happened which furnished my reflection with clarity. My son-in-law, Jay, in his routine, came downstairs for coffee and "devo's." It was in our interchange that "flesh" was added to the bare bones of my initial musings. Upon asking what he was reading, he informed me it was Ben Patterson's Deepening Your Conversation With God, subtitled, "Learning to Love to Pray." He loved it having devoured it more quickly than his usual pace. One particular quotation he shared from his reading provided me some explanation,

"Perhaps one reason God delays his answers to our prayers is because he knows we need to be with him far more than we need the things we ask of him. . . . But we can say that as we prayed long and hard, we found something that we may not have been looking for when we began to pray, something better than the thing we asked of God. We found his incomparable presence. The praying can often be greater than the things we prayed for."

In my case, I had found the "something better" before I started praying. But the principle applies just the same. Here, in a serendipitous sort of way, a confluence of experience and a "chance" quotation combined to solidify what had come to me on Christmas morn, what I trust will at times be the experience of all believers. I don't want to elbow God aside while I insist on forcing a request on him when I stand in the fulfilling position of enjoying his love. God grant us the patience and wisdom to rest in God's immense love when we're involved in this glorious pilgrimage of faith.