Have you ever been afraid to pray?
“I turn the pages a my prayer book to see who I got tonight. A few time this week, I thought about maybe putting Miss Skeeter on my list. I’m not real sure why….
The thing is though, if I start praying for Miss Skeeter, I know that conversation gone continue the next time I see her. And the next and the next. Cause that’s the way prayer do. It’s like electricity, it keeps things going.”
~Aibileen, from The Help by Kathryn Stockett
I’ve been scared to pray.
Scared to pray because I know that God will expose my evil intentions. Scared to pray because I know God will judge my unrepentant heart. Scared to pray because I know that God will call me to act.
Prayer is a scary prospect.
It’s coming face to face with the Holy King of the universe.
It changes us. It changes circumstances.
It changes things the way God wants them instead of the way we want them.
It’s absolutely terrifying.
But if prayer is like electricity, an unpraying Christian is like an unplugged lamp–decorative but useless.
Lord, I’m scared, but I’m gonna choose to pray anyway.
Don’t forget to take a look at Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”, where bloggers collect quotes they’ve read throughout the week.
Yes, I have been afraid to pray at times — afraid God’s will is going to be different than mine and will involve something that I don’t like or that will be hard. By faith I know His way is best, but sometimes it takes a while for the rest of me to catch up to that. But I know I can trust Him and that He will give grace for whatever His will is for us. And I definitely don’t want to have that channel of communication disconnected.
This is so true. Thank you for sharing.
Hadn’t exactly thought it through like that but I have to confess it is true. Sometimes (most times?) I AM scared to pray. But I will anyway.
I know what you mean. I did a girls’ retreat once on the theme of “Scary prayers.” It definitely CAN be scary to pray because God’s will can be intimidating to us.
But thankfully we can choose to do it anyway, knowing his power will back us up.