Artwork by Jennifer Hamlett Herrick
Last night I didn’t sleep well and kept praying “Lord help me sleep”. As my insomnia continued I got more and more frustrated, and anxious. To be honest I found myself resenting the God who did not seem to answer even simple prayers like this.
This morning as I reflected on this, I found Jesus words before the raising of Lazarus revolving in my mind: Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here. (John 11:41, 42)
I was struck particularly by the confidence of that prayer. Jesus knew that God heard him. He didn’t feel the need to shout or try to get God’s attention. He didn’t feel the need to persuade God to do something for him, he just acted in the confidence that God heard him.
How often I come to God unsure of whether or not God is listening. How often I come feeling that I need to convince God to take notice of what I am saying – more like the psalmist who cries God hear my prayer. How often have I questioned the seeming lack of response without even thinking about the inappropriateness of my prayer?
What does it take for us to live in that confident place of knowing that God hears our prayers?
First we need to come in gratitude – Jesus thank you is a heartfelt cry of gratitude to One that he knows as a loving and caring God, the One he knows always answers prayer. Gratitude awakens us to the fact that God is already at work in the situation we are praying for. It opens our eyes to see what God is doing and molds our prayers to the divine will.
Second we need to come confident that we are praying the right prayer, and that means listening to hear God’s direction before we pray. I have often wondered why Jesus waited two days before coming to Bethany to see Lazarus. I suspect that he spent at least part of that time praying and asking God about what he should do.
Third we need to come with a sense of the presence of God deep within our being. We frequently pray out of a sense of our own needs or concerns without taking time to centre ourselves on the presence of God and remind ourselves that the One to whom we offer our prayers can only, ever respond in the loving way.
Fourth we need to come expecting and looking for God’s answers. I often pray a prayer and then dash onto the next thing, not taking time to notice and savour what God is doing in response to my request. We not only need to give thanks for the fact that God hears our prayers, we also need to give thanks for the answers.
I have a friend who keeps a prayer journal – jotting down his prayers, writing out his hopes and expectations for that prayer and then writing down the response that comes. He sees this as a way to more closely align his will with God’s. I think this is a wonderful idea but to my embarrassment I must admit that I have never implemented it.
In response to my reflections I wrote this short prayer which I am hoping it will also revolve in my mind and draw me closer to that abiding presence of God
Lord thank you for hearing our prayers,
Thank you that your spirit stirs within,
Thank you that you are at work,
Transforming, renewing, making all things new.
8 comments
Certainly can sympathize with your experience of sleepless nights and prayer, appreciate your thoughts and comments and agree with them. I often wonder about those sleepless nights. They seem to come at random with me, and for no discernable reason.I have come to understand that perhaps The Lord wants me to be in prayer, can’t quote the scripture right now, but I think Paul talks about sleepless nights in his letters, what were they doing I wonder? Prayer? I think so,but even though I believe this, I confess I often don’t follow through on this conviction about sleepless nights. Just a couple thoughts, great post. God Bless.
Rob – sleepless nights are a great time to pray & I am learning more to relax into that and to listen for God’s voice in the midst of it. I will probably do a series of posts on sleeplessness in the next couple of weeks. I think that maybe part of the problem is that we are trying to force ourselves into a pattern of sleep that is not actually healthy.
[…] Lord Thank You For Hearing Our Prayers […]
I look forward to your posts on sleepless nights..thank you for sharing
Hi Christine: Thanks for the post. I agree with Rob above that I now take sleeplessness as a sign that there is something I am supposed to wrestle with before God in prayer (unless I simply ate too much for dinner . . .). That relaxing into the situation rather than getting more tense, more angry, and less likely to sleep seems to really help. Some of my most moving time with God has been in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep and have gotten up and journaled and prayed. It is actually an act of faith itself, that God is indeed answering the prayer and the answer is “NO! There is something you and I need to talk about.” Thanks for sharing. I look forward to your coming posts on the topic. God bless, Coe.
Thanks Coe – I have seen some interesting research on our sleep patterns that suggests we are not meant to sleep for 8 hours straight. There was a reason monks were up at 3 am praying. It may actually be a more natural pattern.
I am currently in bed. It’s 6.50am and have had a very bad sleep. Thank you Christine and also Coe for offering this blog….such a “God thing” as I usually sleep well but know I am wrestling with some heavy duty issues at present. God is telling me something in my lack of sleep and perhaps it’s about not spending enough purpose-ful time in His presence. Blessings to you all. Petra (Melbourne, Australia)
Blessings Petra and may you take that God time that you need