Degrees of Prayer

In all honesty, let's think of how hard we'd pray for the following situations. I'm going to base my answers on what I've seen of "church folk" over my 28 minus 4 days years. I'm considering how long people will pray, how "hard," how deeply, how sincerely, etc. Scale of 1-10 with 10 being praying so hard, fasting and weeping and begging, and 1 being barely praying at all - if any.

• 1=Personally having a cold
• 4=Child or Grandchild having a cold
• 3=An 80 year old with cancer
• 9=An 8 year old with cancer
• 1=Personally having a headache
• 2=Buying a red car or a blue car
• 8=Not having money to buy a car

So, let's talk here. Why would we not pray as much if we had a cold or a headache? Well, probably because we know that it will go away "on its own" if God doesn't intervene. Personally, I don't think many people think God will intervene. Why waste God's time on praying for a headache that an aspirin can cure anyway?
There was this guy at church who would say, "Hello, how are you." If you said anything but "Good" he'd immediately take your hands and start praying. I stopped talking to him for a while...
Why would we pray harder for an 80 year old than an 8 year old? Eh, the 80 year old has lived her life. It's her time to go.
Why do we pray harder for the money to buy a car than for making the right choice on a car? We know only God can work in "impossible" situations. And, while I'm sure that's flattering to God, He still wants to be consulted on the other parts of life.
Why do we limit God? Why do we lack faith or sometimes not even care if we have faith at all?
My husband once prayed at night, "Lord, please help me to feel a little better in the morning." Why? Why do we limit God and ask to feel "a little better?" Do we feel the need to punish ourselves for all the things we did during the day that God should deduct from his blessings & healings?
I strongly feel that how "hard" we pray coincides with how difficult we think the situation is to remedy without God's help. A head cold will be remedied in a few days "on its own." Cancer could kill us - whew, better call God.
I suppose my sarcasm can be better understood as realization. A realization that God answers our prayers in spite of us. In spite of our "little better" prayers. In spite of our lack of faith over the headaches and over abundance of desperation for the impossible.

...Had many sons... many sons had father...

Abraham.

So, I'm suppose to have his faith because, well, we all know that Jesus had faith, duh. So, when he was talking about faith in the Bible, he couldn't really use himself as an example. So, he used Abraham, for one.

Have you seen those cholesterol commercials where people walk around wearing signs with their cholesterol level? Well, that's how names were in biblical days. Adam means "man." The every popularized Jabez, for example, meant sorrowful things for poor ol' J. (Too bad he's not around to benefit from the profits his name has created today!) Abraham walked around as "father of many."

Shame. Embarrassment. If I were Abe, I'd feel horrible every time someone asked my name.

"Thank you for dining at Red Lobster, sir. Your name, please?"
"Father of many."
"Great! And how many will be at your table tonight?"
"Just me and Sarah."
"'Left the kids with a sitter?"
"Um, no. No children" (head down, embarrassed)

Let's liken it to my painting skills. I have none. I can't paint a picture to save my life. It would be like a museum hearing that I was a great artist & asking to display my art. Then, me giving them my best work, which consisted of connect-the-dot and paint-by-number pieces.

God promised Abraham many children. Abe didn't know when where or how & was sick of waiting. He was sick of being embarrassed, ashamed of the "lie" his name was telling.

Let's skip many parts of the story & fast forward to Issac - the promised son.

So, after years of mental torment (as I see it anyway), Issac was born.

"Why, here's one of "father of many's" sons right now! Hey, Issac!"

I'm sure Abraham loved Issac. He redeemed him to the world. No longer was his name a lie. Issac proved Abraham's faith - like the rain proved Noah's - to the world. Oh, what a precious relationship Issac must have had with his dad.

"Oh, Lord," Abraham must have prayed, "thank you for Issac! He's just perfect. I love him so much. Look at his hair and eyes! He looks just like me. Oh, and Lord, he loves being with me. We have fun together, and... what? What's that, Lord? You want me to sacrifice him?"

Did Abraham cry? Did he doubt God? Did he go to Sarah and ask for advice? Did he pace the floors wondering if he'd missed God? Did he wonder if God was punishing him for something?

No. Genesis 22:2 says "God said..." and verse 3 says that Abraham acted on what God said.

So, it's taken me a while to get to this point, but, here's where I want to be.

So many times we hear God. But, what he tells us seems crazy - even may seem to completely contradict what we heard him say before. It makes no sense. We don't understand.

So, we pace the floor. We ask former Sunday school teachers, the pastor, and the church janitor what they would do. We contemplate if we actually heard God. If we were in Genesis 22, there'd be thousands of verses between verse 2 & 3 telling just what we'd did to figure out if God was really speaking.

It seems so difficult for me to think that God wants me to have that kind of faith. I'll be honest, I just don't see how that kind of faith is possible.

God's never let me down.
God has no record of telling me something to do then failing me.
God has never broken a promise to me.
In fact, God has done so many "impossible" things in my life.

Why shouldn't I have that kind of faith? I can't think of a reason.

______
My name means bringer of truth. While God didn't give me this name, he did give me the name Christian - like Christ. Oh, Lord, please help me to live up to that name! Let me never shy away from it or be ashamed! So many promises come with that name. Praise the Lord! Let me have the faith of a mustard seed - even if I'm only starting out with the faith of the tiniest molecule of life! Birth in me a faith that can move mountains and give me the willingness and even the audacity to act upon that faith.