Prayer is the greater work

Sometimes you just have to let go of your own plans because God's are sooo much better. I believe today is a perfect example. Laura and I made plans this morning to meet up and then go to Starbucks to get coffee and do some quiet time. We went to two different Starbucks. One the line was practically out the door just to get coffee and the second had absolutely no parking! I must admit, driving to a third Starbucks was not the most appealing of ideas, so I said, how bout we go through the drive-thru, get coffee, if there is a parking spot after we will stay, if not we can just go back to my place and sit out front, it is quite a beautiful day and I guess that would be okay. Ordered and received our very delicious coffee and low and behold no parking spots. So we drove back satisfied with coffee and a little annoyed with our change of plans. As I look back, this "plan B" is sooo much better! I took this picture standing on my patio, a hummingbird feeding off a tree literally inches from my front door. The birds chirping, the sun shining (even though we are sitting in the shade), the wind blowing keeping us perfectly content...all I can see is grass, beautiful plants, gorgeous flowers, a blue sky, no cars rushing by, no people talking, just God's creation making a beautiful sound and landscape around me... and I wanted to sit in front of a Starbucks????

The Key of the Greater Work

And greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. –John 14:12

Prayer does not equip us for greater works- prayer is the greater work. Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God’s work. The way fruit remains firm is through prayer, but remember that it is prayer based on the agony of Christ in redemption, not on my own agony. We must go to God as His child, because only a child gets his prayers answered. (Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, Oct. 17)

Prayer does not equip us for greater works- prayer is the greater work. How often I come to God, telling Him how amazing He is, how thankful I am for what He has done for me, for how perfect His plan is for me as hard as it is for me to see it sometimes, and just how much I appreciate Him in my life. Then follows the burdens I feel and how I just want Him to take them away, grow me the process, fine, but ultimately, I want to feel happy all the time. As if the prayer that I lift up is asking God to prepare me for what He is and then sustain me through it because as I face those moments, who knows where He will be?? As I go through my day to day I always forget just how available God is because I tend to face things as if this burden is my own, ask God for the strength, but then walk through it alone. How untrue that is, because even though I ask Him for the strength He will continually with me. The hard part is no longer the task but whether or not I remember to ask God to be present.

Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God's work. I kinda concluded with this in the above paragraph, but realizing more and more how prayer is not something that prepares us but rather is with us. The fact is, our thoughts throughout any ordeal are just as prayerful as the "Dear God.....Amen" that we speak before hand. 

The way fruit remains firm is through prayer, but remember that it is prayer based on the agony of Christ in redemption, not on my own agony. When I read this, I stopped and thought, oh yes this life is not about me, but about God. As I go through these burdens, I must remember that what God suffered is so much worse. And because the burden that He carried is so great, what I am going through is understood by the only one who can understand it. 

We must go to God as His child, because only a child gets his prayers answered. Why does Chambers specifically say a child? Because God asks us to have a childlike faith, one that is simply and trusting, one that doesn't think too highly of all the possibilities but one that solely trusts in the simplicity of the Cross. I have noticed, when children pray, they are quite blunt and yet pour out their hearts. God just wants us to be blunt about where we are, what we are thinking and feeling and pour out our heart to Him. He knows that once we have surrendered, He can begin to reveal His plan and we are more likely to follow. 

Thomas sums it up quite well in his book, The Glorious Pursuit: Embracing the virtues of Christ, by saying, "Surrender to God's purposes is the interior attitude adjustment by which we can live above our time with an eternal perspective" (pg. 68). When we realize prayer is happening all the time, something that doesn't just prepare us but helps us through continuously, one that is focused on Jesus and not ourselves and is done as a child would do, God is able to mold us so that we are not blinded by the world but rather have our eyes focused on eternity with Jesus, and really, what could be better?