Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Prayed Out
Have you ever gotten tired of bowing your head? From a 6:30 AM daily prayer meeting at church to midday meetings with ministry partners, pastors, and faculty, to late-night prayer gatherings with students, neighbors, and Wes, the last two weeks have been punctuated by prayer. Prayer for the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Katrina, for the VT campus, for the town of Blacksburg. Prayer for students to step up as leaders, for more volunteers to join the ministry, for wisdom in approaching the ever-growing number of opportunities to exercise my own talents and energy. Prayer for our daily bread of God's Word, of the Spirit's action, of supporters' gifts and prayers to keep me on campus a little longer. Prayer for God's kingdom to come, for his will to be done, for his fame to be made known among all people near and far.
All this prayer has produced an unexpected result: weariness. The more I pray, the more I see God act. But the more I see God act, the more I realize the need to pray, because I feel the weight of God's love for a loveless world. And finally I reach a point where my awareness of the needs of the world, the ministry, and the people I love are too great for my words. At this point, the best I can do is just sit still before the Lord.
I thought prayer was supposed to be refreshing and life-giving! Well, it is, in the same way that exercising my body relieves stress and gives me more energy throughout the rest of the day. But working out makes me really tired, too. So I guess my spiritual muscles aren't as strong as I thought (a good thing to know at this point in the year)! I couldn't yet pray all day even if I wanted to. This is why I value the prayers of those from afar - the Lord uses them to sustain me. Thank you for standing with me when I'm all prayed out.
On an exciting note, this outpouring of corporate prayer is a both a response to and an invitation for the Spirit's work in Blacksburg. I have never sensed so much unity and expectancy among Christians in a place before. In spite of the weariness, my spirit senses that God is doing BIG things in this small town.
All this prayer has produced an unexpected result: weariness. The more I pray, the more I see God act. But the more I see God act, the more I realize the need to pray, because I feel the weight of God's love for a loveless world. And finally I reach a point where my awareness of the needs of the world, the ministry, and the people I love are too great for my words. At this point, the best I can do is just sit still before the Lord.
I thought prayer was supposed to be refreshing and life-giving! Well, it is, in the same way that exercising my body relieves stress and gives me more energy throughout the rest of the day. But working out makes me really tired, too. So I guess my spiritual muscles aren't as strong as I thought (a good thing to know at this point in the year)! I couldn't yet pray all day even if I wanted to. This is why I value the prayers of those from afar - the Lord uses them to sustain me. Thank you for standing with me when I'm all prayed out.
On an exciting note, this outpouring of corporate prayer is a both a response to and an invitation for the Spirit's work in Blacksburg. I have never sensed so much unity and expectancy among Christians in a place before. In spite of the weariness, my spirit senses that God is doing BIG things in this small town.
# posted by Anonymous @ 1:30 PM 
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what a blessing it is to read of God´s loving plan for you and your life in VA. i am so thankful that He´s got you there, ¨prayed out,¨ for the time being... and so thankful for the fruit that will come of these past few days.
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