A Blessing?
/“Here is the blessing for which you have been waiting, here is the answer that you have longed to discover. Open your heart to receive it. Open your spirit and let the message emerge from within you. You have not been overlooked by the sacred, not forgotten in your need or your question. The winds of heaven have turned your way, the season of grace has come upon you. All this I have felt as I prayed, and written now, with the same sense of trust I hope you will have, when the meaning becomes clear. Thank God for our little back-up plan called faith.” Steven Charleston
Often these days I find myself questioning the worth of my prayer life. These are the times when I am certain, upon reflecting back, that I confuse prayer with a request line. You know what I am talking about, I’m sure you do.
I can look back over just this last month and name all of the people and things that I have prayed for with no direct results. It’s like having a song on the top of the Billboard Top 40 one week and knowing (?) that this song will be the beginning of a great career. The next week this song has fallen to number 34 and the following week it can’t be found on the list at all. The musician is dejected and ready to give up.
Then, while asking the big why question the musician picks up a phone message from a prominent recording artist who loved the lyrics of your song and wants to do some songwriting with them. It was not what was prayed or worked for, but it definitely was an answer to why.
So, the answer for me about prayer is in Steven Charleston quote. I need to open my heart, open my soul and let my best set of eyes and ears tune in to the gift of the response given to me, knowing that this answers what I prayed for. I need to risk being afraid of what I might learn, to find new intersections and be able to choose which way to go to find new places that need to be explored in my relationship with God within me and in all who share the journey.
Does any of this ring true for you? I encourage you to pray with Steven Charleston and learn to be open. It is not easy, without difficulties, AND I promise you that you are never alone as you work at this.
God is always walking with us AND, “God is Still Speaking.” - Chris L.
