Persistant Prayers, Open Hearts

Last week I was at a cookout with one of our church groups. It was a potluck, but when I asked what I should bring, they said, “not a thing” (which is what they said to another church staffer). I don’t like going to someone’s home without something in my hand- a salad, some flowers, a jar of apple butter. It was the way I was raised. I fully intended to get something to give the hosts, but the day got busy, I got behind and the next thing I knew I only had time to get there. So, I arrived empty handed and kicking myself for not finding time to get a simple bread and butter gift. As I made my way around to the back of the house, I could already hear laughter and as I round the corner to the deck, greetings were already being called out to me. Before I had even fully entered, I was being welcomed, and it filled my heart!
Dinner time came, and, of course, I was asked to offer the blessing for the meal. I realized in that moment, what I had to bring to this house of abundant love, friendship, and food- a prayer for God’s blessing. I must admit saying grace is one of the easiest prayers for me- for whenever I am gathered at table with people, whether I know them well or whether we have just met, I am grateful for what God has provided- not only in mashed potatoes or green beans, but in the potential for new and renewed connections, for the opportunity to experience the Holy One in the hearts and minds at the table. Even when I am not the one speaking the prayer aloud, I find that in those moments of table grace, my heart is especially open. And when my heart is open, it is so much easier for God to find a way into it.
There are times, though, when the prayers do not come so easily. When my heart is not as easily opened. Perhaps it is a prayer I have repeated and repeated with no seeming answer. Or a prayer where I am not sure what to pray, as though I need to have the answer before I entrust the solution to God. Or when my heart is closed to another and I am praying for them with clenched teeth.
For Jesus, the most important thing about prayer to be persistent. Keep praying, even when it doesn’t seem an answer is forthcoming. Keep praying even when struggling with what to pray. Keep praying even when you don’t want to pray. Don’t give up, just keep at it. Frederick Buechner writes that the need for persistence is not “because we have to beat a path of God’s door before it is opened, but because until you beat a path maybe there is not way of getting to your door.”
When is prayer difficult for you? When has prayer been most meaningful or helpful?
So, whether the prayer comes easily or is like pulling teeth, we just keep at it, hoping God will find the opening that is needed.
Walking the journey with you,
Pastor Kathy