Book Session – Prayer by Philip Yancey
This is the second Yancey book I read from cover to cover. A timely companion during my sabbatical. For the lack of resources I just grabbed whatever unread book that was available in my sister’s bookshelf and this was it.
I am not a very big fan of prayer, to be honest. I have my highs and lows. I battle with inconsistencies. Just grateful that God never let me go despite this unfaithful attitude within me. It took a while for me to finish the book. But perhaps what moved me to really go through it was the need to be in such an act of surrender.
This is to share some interesting points I learned from Yancey and insights I gained about prayer:
Be available. Our days are bombarded by information and demands – emails, phone calls, SMS, and things to do, among others. We never see the end of them. Most of us hope for more hours in a day in order to accomplish the things expected of us. To not lose sight, many learned the art of scheduling. Prayer, sadly, is not a top of mind item when we fill our daily schedules. Much like having a high profile meeting with the big boss of the company, setting aside time to be with God is one important appointment that we need to make daily. No matter what state we are in – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually – all that God requires from us is our availability to be with Him. The rest is in His hands.
Humble expectation. We cannot counteract the natural laws of nature such as the aging or natural disasters. But God did promise us that whatever we ask in His name, that He will grant. Humble expectation means we surrender our petitions to the will of God and expect that He will answer in accordance to it. Grandiose answers are not guaranteed. Appropriate answers are.
Listen. We seek to be heard and to be noticed. God knows it. But during prayer, when stillness takes over and we have nothing much to say, that is God’s opportunity to speak and our role is to listen. Prayer is a two way communication. Many people may find it silly and discomforting if all seems quiet. I do. But silence is God’s way of telling us to be still. I am reminded of an example from a class that when one throws a stone on a still pond, the ripples it makes are easily noticed. A stone thrown into an unstable pond is barely noticed. We must listen.
Anxiety-transfer. We constantly worry about the future. We constantly worry about what happened in the past. There seems to be no end to this worry cycle and nothing in this world can counteract it. Prayer is an opportunity for us to pour ourselves inside out. God calls us to cast all our burdens to Him. Isn’t it refreshing to have Someone to carry all the weight that we have on our shoulders so that we might enjoy life?
Stopping Time/Stillness. I am among those young professionals who seem to be rushing through life wanting to do this or that, to achieve this or that. It is a race that we ourselves created and is burning us all out. This is perhaps the most important lesson that God presented to me as I read the book. Why are we in a hurry? God gave us life, an outpouring of His love, so that we might enjoy and not to be burdened by it.
Intercession is an increase in awareness. For people like me starting out a habit of prayer consistency, praying for one’s own petitions may usually be the content of the entire conversation with God. Nothing wrong with that. But through and through God brings to our awareness the need to pray for others. Yes, we may not know everything that our family or friends or even enemies desire or need, but the mere mention of their name, a split second thought of them is in itself a prayer. God knows what they need. Our role is merely to be an audience.
Do not compartmentalize. This is related to being available. Although it is ideal that we set aside a specific amount of time to prayer, everything we do so long as we do it for the glory of God, is prayer. I remember asking someone back in college that as we talked about each others’ prayer requests during our Bible studies, are we in fact praying already? Yancey, in this book, affirmed it. We are not to compartmentalize – to divide our lives between holy and unholy deeds. Prayer should be a lifestyle blended in every moment.
Nothing is too trivial. Everything that matters to us matters to God. We can pray for guidance, patience, wisdom and self-control. These are seemingly trivial matters but can do wonders for our day. God knows us by name, even the strands of our hair. Nothing is too small for God.
Love God – to adore but seek not to fathom. We can never fathom the greatness of God. Why should we? Does it really matter? For me to measure is to compare ourselves to Him. We are nothing compared to Him. We are designed to adore and to praise God for who He is. That is what we are made for. That matters.
Disaster in a Digital Age
Saturday (September 26), 11 am. Opened my eyes and read some messages in my phone. Reminder for a gimmick. Update on ministry. It was raining hard outside. I felt too lazy to get up so I went back to sleep. These days, I dislike it when I get disturbed by phone beeps, especially when it’s cold and raining outside.
Later on, our family had lunch. Rain continued to pour. A few hours later, water started to rise to unusual levels. Little did we know, it was disaster shaping up. Fast forward, we are thankful to God that our family was spared from any serious damage from the storm and floods. At most, old books and mementos got wet. Plus total blackout overnight.
Unlike many. And it is a sad sight up to now.
It is interesting how modern technology upgraded communications in this time of distress. Personally, I was glued to the PC screen whenever possible – for Facebook and Twitter updates of friends. Got immediate news about the whereabouts of the storm and disaster tally. It was impressive as influential people such as Demi Moore, Josh Groban, Alyssa Milano, Paolo Coelho, and HappySlip tweeted about the Philippine plight – who had real time shout outs for help. It was most impressive as regular people (similarly) use these social networking sites in calling out friends to help out and even check on the state of people.
We live in a digital age. Devices can be intrusive many times. But in emergency situations, aren’t we thankful that we live in these modern times?
Lost and Found
I personally have a hard time tracking dates and time these past few weeks. Understandable enough, I have been out of the workplace for quite sometime. Recently, I lost two valuable items. Thanks to a cluttered mind. But thankfully, I found both.
First, was my gym card. It is the only “free” recreation I have while I am unemployed and losing it meant having to pay for a new card. I forgot that I had to leave my ID with the gym management whenever I loaned a movie. Now, I have it back. Second, was my house keys. I first left the keys in the condo so my housemate gave it to me one Sunday. But I was rushing to a class then and was talking to other people at the same time, I did not notice that I lost my keys until I was inside the classroom. I went home to my family’s place in QC, half worried and half expectant. I knew for a fact that our church has a very efficient lost and found section, proven by a good friend who lost her journal two or three times in church and got it back. But of course, I also had to think of the worst. Thankfully, I got the keys back. Thanks to the maintenance team of the church.
We all lose things in life – from the most mundane to the most valuable. Even life itself. We have heard of the Biblical account about the prodigal son a number of times (Luke 15:11-32). In the most recent anniversary celebration of our church (August 2009), such was the text that our head pastor, Ptr. Peter Tan-Chi discussed. But the approach was different. The focus was on the elder son – why did he not go out and look for his younger brother?
The week post-anniversary, we were confronted with the question. Which are we in life? The younger brother who was lost and was found? Or the elder brother who stayed behind and did not do anything? I saw myself as the elder brother. I have the tendency to just sit back and look at people. I had this holier-than-thou attitude. I never realized that I too, was lost. I am thankful though, for God is in the business of transforming us. He found me. Time and again, He does.
Tour of the Fireflies
Had to be in church as early as 8 am today for three meetings. But woke up late. Wonderful. But headed to church anyways. Was caught in heavy traffic along EDSA between Quezon Avenue and GMA. Cause of traffic? A group of cyclists, about 300 or 500 of them at the very least. It was an interesting sight despite being irritating at first.
“Bike to work…bike to school…bike today.”
Was never aware of this city-wide (or was it country-wide?) advocacy. Suddenly reminded me of church friend currently based in Japan who goes to work on a bicycle. My mind suddenly wandered, “What if? What if in three or four years people can actually ride to work or school?”
Interesting but close to impossible. Weather in Manila goes to the extremes. Past few days have been extremely hot. And now it’s raining! As early as the third week of April. Signs of global warming!
Got in church later than I hoped to, by the way. But it was fine.
Y.U.L. # 2 – Late Night Coffee Shop Lurking
Came from an evening meeting over coffee tonight. Was supposed to go home immediately after the meeting but found out that there was free WiFi in the shop so decided to stay in.
I partly worked, to be honest. Decided to because at home, I would most probably fall asleep the moment I get in. It was a caffein-induced place anyway and that became the motivation. Plus it was a different environment. Most of the people who were in the shop tonight are students. Law students, at that. The desire to become a student again was all the more fueled!
Late night in Coffee Bean, Tomas Morato
Some random thoughts from tonight:
- Study groups seem to be fun. Should have done that back in college and met and be friends with people.
- Am excited to go back to school. In New York, I pray.
- Working in a different environment can be motivating.
- Consider doing freelance writing.
- Travel writing seems to be an interesting past time.
- Facebook is a universal past time.
- Need to go out more often. Tomas Morato seems to be a nice hang out place. And it’s near home!
