Yesterday evening my daughter kept trying to ask me questions from the living room or her bedroom while I was cooking dinner. It didn’t matter how loud she yelled, it was still hard to hear and understand her from so far away. She was frustrated to the point of tears by the time dinner was ready. After we prayed and started eating, I had the chance to find out exactly what she needed and what she was thinking about. I enjoy our dinner table talk time, and last night my daughter felt heard after taking time at the table. She didn’t get what she wanted, but she got what she needed. I was able to challenge her to look at one of her problems from another perspective, and she learned because we took the time to talk about it.
This morning as I was reading Oswald Chambers’s “My Utmost for His Highest”, he wrote this:
“God does not hear us because we pray earnestly—He hears us solely on the basis of redemption.”
My daughter was wholeheartedly earnest when she was yelling questions and comments from the other room. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to hear her. She just wouldn’t come to me so we could really talk. I called to her several times to come into the kitchen, but she was too busy. So the yelling continued.
Then it was time for dinner. My daughter eats dinner at our kitchen table, not because of anything she’s done, but because she’s part of the family. That is where her needs are met and her questions answered…granted not always with the answers she wants, but that’s where she learns and grows. It’s where we have our family meetings and enjoy game nights. It’s one of the important places where our family life happens.
So often I’m just like her in my own relationship with God. Instead of coming to His table, I’m earnestly “yelling” prayers at him throughout the day in passing. I know He’s not Santa Clause to give me everything I ask for, but I’m so busy trying to solve my own problems and take care of other people that I don’t take the time to come to the table and spend time with God. I pray for Him to meet a need or want in a way I think He should do it, not necessarily how He’s going to do it. Then when He doesn’t answer my prayers the way I think He should, I wonder why.
God wants me to meet him at His table because I’m family. It’s not because of anything I’ve done (or haven’t done). He wants me to understand Him better and see Him at work. He wants to spend time teaching me and challenging the ways I pray to Him.
James 5:16 says:
“The prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective.”
I’m not righteous because of anything I’ve done. I’m righteous because I’m His. It’s His righteousness that brings me to the table. It’s His power that makes my prayers effective, and only when I pray as He leads. So many of the most powerful prayers I’ve prayed were not the words originally in my mind or on my lips. I came to the table and spill my honest pleas before God. That is where He begins to help me see things from a different perspective and teach me what I should be praying for and what I really need. Sometimes my needs and wants are so far apart. It’s not that what I want is bad. It’s just not God’s best.
September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month. I’ve personally known 5 sets of parents within my own family and circle of friends who have lost a child to cancer. Each time I’ve earnestly prayed for their healing. There’s nothing wrong with that prayer. It’s what we all want. It’s a good prayer.
However, in one of those cases, I found myself praying for one of these children specifically to be healed, and God told me no. He stopped me and told me to pray for the family to find their strength in Him. My husband confirmed that God was telling him the same thing. We were heartbroken over the implications of that prayer. For a little over a year, we cried and prayed for the family to have strength as their child fought cancer and ultimately lost her earthly battle. We still pray for the parents and siblings to daily find strength in God.
But you see, it was only by meeting God at the table to pour out my earnest prayers that I had the chance to learn from Him and find peace when His answer wasn’t what I asked for. The lessons I learn from Him can be painful, but I’d rather learn from the pain than miss out on the peace He ultimately has to offer. It’s when I come to the table that I get a glimpse of how He is working things out for His glory and am amazed. When I fail to come to the table, I’m often blindsided by unanswered prayers and disappointment with God.
Thank you, Lord, that my place at your table is secure and You’re always ready to sit with me in prayer.
