Last night as I restlessly dozed off and on, missing Shannon beside me and thinking of my guys up in the airplane for so long, I prayed off and on through the night. Several times I fell asleep praying and woke up, eager to pray some more. Then today, through the mail, I received a gift of some audio tape teachings and a book on prayer from a dear friend of ours from back when we were brand new Christians. James is someone who had great patience with us as he met with us each Saturday evening back in the early 90's to do bible study, then would watch us go home and continue on in our sinful ways. Of course, we still sin but much less often than we did then. James moved out of state a few years back and we have kept in touch. When he heard about our upcoming move he was truly excited. In fact, he is travelling to Uganda(just across Lake Victoria from Tanzania) on a missions trip for a couple of weeks in October.
I listened to the tape he sent about prayer this morning. There were many great teachings in the tape but the one that has stuck with me the most was about several men who missed an amazing opportunity. Jesus asked 3 of his disciples, Peter, James and John, to go with him to pray in the garden on the night of his betrayal. Instead these men selfishly said no and fell asleep. It grieves my heart terribly to remember that my Jesus, on the worst night of his life, and after asking others to join him in prayer, was refused that. I immediately wondered to myself what I would have done. Would I have slept too?
I have always thought that it was Ok for me to fall asleep praying. At least I am praying until then, I've argued, but maybe I need to think again. How would I feel if someone sat with me visiting and they fell asleep? Do I truly realize what a gift prayer time is and do I treat it that way? Do I realize how much more effective my life for Jesus is when I pray? I have some self examination to do on this subject. Although I do pray at other times throughout the day, sometimes long and sometimes short, I need to make my prayer time a bigger priority in my life.
Shannon and Collin should be in Tanzania now. Their clock is 8 hours ahead of ours. Tomorrow, Wednesday, they will first step foot in, and see our future hometown of Mwanza. On Thursday they will travel to the island. Continue praying for safe travels and good rest when they can get it.
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5 comments:
Thanks for keeping us updated. We are praying for all of you!
Are you sure that they selfishly refused to pray?? Maybe they, like you, tried to pray and found themselves sleeping.
Hmmm, that's a great thought. I might look into this more. Thanks.
Christine, I, too, used to fall asleep before I was "done", (and often still do) and was so frustrated with myself, 'til a friend of mine told me once that it was a very wonderful thing to have happen, as you are falling asleep with Jesus the very nearest to you with His arms wrapped around you in prayer, comfort, and love....when I remember that, I don't feel like such a unresponsible cad, but rather can smile in the precious thought of being so close to my understanding, forgiving Lord! Just a thought.....
Thank you for that wonderful visual, postal. I will hold that close to my heart and share it with others.
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