Of Prayers and Paper Airplanes
OBJECT LESSON ...
Take a moment right now to write down a prayer request on a slip of paper. Your mission is to get your prayer request up to the pulpit. You can throw it. You can try to shoot it with a rubber band. Or you can fold it into a paper airplane and try to fly it. Do your best, then let 'er fly!
We often make certain assumptions about prayer. We think it’s some kind of game with a long list of complicated rules, or that it requires some magical strategy or gimmick. So we devise elaborate methods in order to get God to hear us and accept our prayers.
Maybe we think we’ll be heard for our many words, or our impressive words. Or maybe the task looks so daunting that we don't even try.
But truth is, we could have simply walked up here and placed our prayer request on the pulpit.
God doesn't want us to just try to be heard from afar. Rather, He invites us to come near to Him.
Prayer isn’t about getting the right words, but having the right heart -- a heart transformed into a child of God.
"Come close to God, and God will come close to you" (James 4:8, NLT).
"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16, ESV).
""Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus ... let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith ..." (Hebrews 10:19, 22, ESV).
Scribbled Prayers
One of the great privileges of serving as a deacon is the opportunity to be one of the first to pray over needs shared at the beginning of the worship service. Our congregation is invited to fill out prayer request cards which are available in each pew. They simply say, "Let us pray with you," leaving a blank space, with the prompt, "My request is ..."
A particular prayer request stood out to me. It was the scribblings of a young child filling out the blank prayer card as he sat in the pew. Just a squiggly line — up, down, and back and forth on the card.
I love the heart of a child eager to participate and share their scribbles for prayer. “Let the little children come to me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Luke 18:16, NIV).
It also reminded me that this is how a lot of my prayers must sound before the sovereign God. My praying must often be not much more than scribbles of unintelligible ideas and whinings when presented to Him. But I am glad that he knows them better than I do.
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26, ESV).
Look Up for Help
March may be springtime in much of the country, but in the mountains of Lane County, Oregon, winter is still raging — a point that become abundantly clear to motorist Casey Ryan.
While traveling a mountain road “not maintained for winter travel,” Ryan came upon another driver who had been stuck in the snow for several days. In attempting to help the other traveler extricate his car, his own vehicle became helplessly stuck in the snow.
He tried to no avail to reach out for help, but couldn’t get a cell signal to connect a call or send a text message. Thankfully, quick thinking prevailed.
Ryan, an experienced mountain photographer/videographer, just happened to keep drone equipment in his car which he typically used for overhead photos and videos. He quickly typed out a text message to a trusted friend pleading for help, along with coordinates for his location. He then tied his phone to his drone, and sent it soaring. Once it reached a high enough elevation, the phone was able to connect with a cell tower and shoot off his text message. Help arrived soon after.
"He then typed a text message to a trusted person describing his situation and exact location, hit send, and launched the drone several hundred feet into the air." -- Lane County Sheriff
Click here for the Lane County Sheriff’s Facebook post.
Fortunately, when we need help from our Heavenly Father, we don't need to rely on a cell signal. We need but to open our mouths or hearts and utter the words. He knows right where we are. He knows just what we need, even before we can express it. That said, when trials come, it’s important for us to quickly look up and lift up our cry for help! Not because God doesn't know our situation, but because He longs for us to reach out in trust.
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help com? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2, ESV).
“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17, ESV).
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” (Jeremiah 33:3, ESV).