A Prayerful Redirect

Have you heard the story about the stubborn little guy who wouldn’t stay in his seat in the family SUV? As soon the dad backed out of the driveway, he looked up in his rearview mirror and saw that his three-year-old son was unbuckled and standing in the back seat. “Sit down and get back in that seat! Now!” his dad scolded. And the boy argued. “I can’t see!” The dad threatened him, “Don’t make me stop and get out of this car!” All at once, the dad could see that the boy had complied and said, “Thank you. Now stay seated!” Immediately, he heard this defiant mumbling from the boy, “But… In my head, I’m still standing!!”

Pray and Look for God's Redirect!
I hate to admit this, but there are times when there is a stubborn little boy wandering around in my head! Our small group at church had a vigorous discussion about prayer last Sunday. We were asked to consider some pretty probing questions about our own prayer life like “What kinds of prayer do you tend to neglect? Do you find yourself praying once or twice for a need and then giving up?” Then, we were asked to consider, “How would you evaluate your prayer life? How has it changed over time?” I know that an exercise like this is good, but it is also uncomfortable as well!

One of our study participants suggested that sometimes our prayers sound more like a Christmas wish list. We treat God like a celestial Santa Claus and dictate to Him our checklist of what we want! I do acknowledge that I spend too much of my prayer time telling God what I want Him to do in my life and how I want Him to intervene in the lives of those I’m praying for. And the result is that I’m not listening to His still small voice, nor am I taking delight in His presence in that moment. I am also not being patient during those times when God seems silent and hidden from me.

I don’t know what is more difficult during those hidden times when God is silent, and I am trying to wait on Him to give me an answer. Is it the waiting or is it that I fear He may be saying, “No!” to my requests. On my better days, I admit that by looking back, I can see that He has redirected me. I can honestly say that my life has been full of those waiting times, hidden moments, and plenty of redirection! Repeatedly, I have felt God saying “No, that’s not my purpose for you!” Then, by His grace, He shows me His will in that redirection, and I must humbly confess that His way is always better!

I am trying to make some progress in moving from a “checklist” prayer life to more of a daily “pop-in prayer plan” that I hope more closely approximates what the Bible defines as “prayer without ceasing.” These days, I am leaning into more prayer throughout the day. I am trying to see every moment as an opportunity to have a conversation with God. I still like to begin and end the day with prayer, but during the day, I find myself talking aloud to Him more often. I’m trying to take a prayer-breath that makes me pause more frequently and quiet my spirit enough to hear what the Holy Spirit is whispering to me.

Paul offers this encouragement in our praying, “Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He (the Holy Spirit) does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.” (Romans 8:26, The Message).

I don’t know about you, but I often need the Spirit to step in and say to the Father on my behalf, “This is what Mike means!” And then allow Him to translate my gibberish and wordless sighs into requests that align with God’s will, and His plans for me, the loved ones, and friends I pray for. I want my prayer life to reflect how Jesus prayed and what He would ask for - “Please Father, not what I want, but what do You want?”

The next time you hear God say, “No!” Don’t give up praying, but rather, look for God’s redirect. Remember, He promises believers who love and follow Him, “In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose!” (Romans 8:28).

Mike Keppler, retired pastor,
active churchman and
doting grandparent.
Contact: drmjkeppler@gmail.com
©2018-2025 All rights reserved.
Serve by Design. mjkministries.com

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Pray and Move Your Feet!"

Image
There is an old West African proverb: “When you pray, move your feet.” I have said something similar in a little different way: “Be careful in your praying. You may be (and often are!) the answer to your own prayer.” Others see this almost as a command to “Put feet to your prayers!” What do we mean by these various sayings? Prayer is not just an important spiritual discipline for the Christian, it often leads to an “in the flesh” response and connection between the pray-er and the prayer request. Prayer and Action! pngimg.com While prayer is one of the spiritual disciplines, this doesn't mean it is just an academic, theoretical or forensic exercise! I have heard it said, "God inhabits the praises of His people." This suggests that it blesses God to hear the praise of His people in prayer. I believe that the Lord gets an even greater blessing when our praying is “incarnated” in devotion, commitment and service for Him. Our best efforts at praying involve action plans to ...
Read more

Uncle Billy Moments!

Image
Photograph courtesy of Paramount Pictures Many of you will remember the beloved uncle who partnered with Jimmy Stewart’s character in the Christmas favorite, It’s a Wonderful Life. Uncle Billy was absent-minded and habitually wrapped a "reminder string" around his finger so he wouldn’t forget things. There is that pitiful exchange between the uncle and his nephew George Bailey. After a costly lapse in judgement in which $8,000 falls into the villainous Potter's hands, George, fearing the bank examiner's reprisals, called Uncle Billy, “A silly, stupid old fool!" Indeed, it was a sad occasion for the Bailey Building and Loan at the cusp of the Great Depression when that amount of money in today's dollars would exceed $114,000 in value. This was for me an unforgettable (and I use that word carefully) confrontation by the two characters in the film. I had an Uncle Billy moment last week. One that I am still embarrassed about. I absentmindedly left my bank ...
Read more

"A Blue Christmas"

Image
We recently celebrated what would have been the ninth birthday of our beloved granddaughter, Kayley Janelle. She was only given to her family for a fleeting time of about sixty days before a severe heart defect and catastrophic stroke prematurely shut down her precious little life. Every time we visit the cemetery we are painfully reminded of how we would have loved on and delighted in her! Kayley's Ninth Birthday! On this occasion, we brought a special dessert drink with whipped topping from the local coffee shop. It was our way of commemorating in a tangible way just how much we miss those everyday opportunities to spoil Kayley! There would have been special “date times” to eat at her favorite soup and sandwich shops and chat about her school and social activities. At this season, we would have loved to hear her screams of delight when she opened her gifts, large and small, along with the entire family! Life has a way of changing things! Our hopes and longings can be dashed to pi...
Read more