thoughts on prayer - pastor david c

It's Too Hard…

That's the way I felt about the pre-engineering course, Electrical Fundamentals. It was my washout course that moved me from studying Engineering to Business. I remember my Intro to Engineering course when the guest professional engineer told us all sitting in the room to look around at the others in the room He then told us 2 out of 3 would drop out and not be engineers. I said to myself I wasn't going to be one of those quitters. Well, that didn't happen, did it?!

When my kids were growing up we had a "no-quit rule." If they started something they had to finish it. My saying (and sincere belief) is "Quitting is an easy habit to start and hard habit to stop.”

But when we do hard things, wanting to quit can enter our mind, capture our heart and move us to do things we never thought we would. What does prayer look like when it is too hard?

Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane is about as graphic an example as you can get of "too hard." Knowing he was going to die, and knowing the extraordinary brutality he was going to have to endure sent Jesus to prayer. He prayed first for it to be taken away. It's OK if you do the same in your pain. But then he also prayed to endure it and submitted his will to God's will. And that is what eventually took place.

There are some things we can't go under, over or around. We must go through them. These are the places God is with us and God gives strength. And they are still painful.

As you go through what you are, know God is with you. But invite someone else to be with you, too. It's easier that way.

““I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27, NLT)
Peace and Grace,
David