“Who can get through?”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Psalm 5 (Forward, p. 79) CEV p. 557
Concerning prayer, there are many misconceptions and misunderstandings out there. One is that the prayers of certain people—like clergy—are more likely ‘to get through’, to be listened to. The reality is that God listens to all people, regardless of who or what they are. Another misconception is that prayer is almost like magic, find the right formula or the ‘right conditions to answered prayer’, and your prayer will be answered! But, alas, God is not a ‘vending machine.’
Nevertheless, having said all that, there are certain factors that either hinder or assist our prayers in ‘getting through’. Our psalmist for today, David, mentions a few of these. On the positive side:
-earnestness, persistence, and hopefulness certainly help. Our psalmist mentions that he is consistent in his prayers, coming to God in prayer every morning. We find this pattern and practice all over the Hebrew Scriptures (see Psalm 40:1, Psalm 88:1; Psalm 116: 2; and 1 Chronicles 16:11). Jesus certainly commends persistence in prayer (see Luke 11:5-10 and 18:1-8) and likewise so too do many of the early church leaders (see Ephesians 6:18 and James 5:16);
-an attitude of worshipfulness and an openness to hearing God’s word and doing God’s will also put us in a very good stead when it comes to prayer.
And on the reverse side of the coin, on the negative side of things, there are certainly things that will ‘get in the way’ of our receiving answers to our prayers:
-blatant, continual and habitual evil doing, for instance;
-likewise boasting, lying, deceit and violence of every sort;
However, having noted the above, there is no one that God is not willing to hear, no one that is ‘too far gone’ if the intent is there. After all, it was the humble, earnest tax collector that was heard and who was justified, rather than the pious, the seemingly righteous Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14. And, on a similar vein, it is never too late. The penitent thief hanging on a cross next to Jesus was almost on the verge of death, and yet he too was heard for his earnest and very real prayer of desperation (see Luke 23:39-43). And so, while it is never ‘automatic’—God can answer pray in three ways, ‘yes,’ ‘no’, or ‘wait’, it is never futile, never a ‘wasted exercise’ to go to God in prayer. Indeed, it should be something habitual and even constant. Amen.
Forward notes: “Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my meditation” (verse 1).
“Although the Psalter petitions God to consider our meditation, I like other translations that call to God to give heed to our ‘sighing.’
“Turns out sighing has a physiological purpose. If we did not sigh, the alveoli in our lungs could eventually collapse, causing lung failure. I did not know this until I started to go to acupuncture to manage chronic pain. I found myself sighing deeply, and the practitioner told me this was a sign of releasing tension held within the body.
“We believe in a Creator who cares about our sighs, who considers them. Our sighs do not go unnoticed. We are also called to heed—to pay attention to—the sighs of others, out of love. And this extends beyond human beings to also our four-legged (and six- and eight- and more) friends and even the earth itself, sighing in the throes of global warming. The rivers sigh as they are harnessed and redirected away from Native lands for the purpose of building dams. Fields and flowers sigh as they bear the ravages of fires and extreme weather, the blights of global warming. Sighs are significant. Heed them.”
Moving Forward: “Try sighing deeply now. How does it feel?”