My conundrum

I am in a bit of a conundrum. I have been asked by my church back home to write a 1 page (double spaced) article about prayer. When I received this request I felt two emotions at the same time. First, elation because I would get to share with people who have no idea what I do here in KC and hopefully open their eyes to a life of prayer. The second emotion was something more like dread, the thought lingering in the back of my mind was, “Oh, no, what am I going to say?”

But last night I sat down and just started writing random, stream of consciousness thoughts about prayer. I filled up six pages. I stared at my screen in disbelief. How can I articulate what the Lord has taught me in the past two years in the space of two paragraphs? Where do I start? How can I fit it all in? I mean, prayer isn’t just about asking God for things. Well, it is and it isn’t. But it’s also about worshiping, beholding, studying, discovering, gazing, loving, longing, fasting, seeking, knocking, interceding, decreeing, reading, prophesying, singing, ministering. This is about a life of prayer, not just about a prayer meeting.

I feel the weight of this assignment more than anything FSM has asked me to do in years. Why? Because I am hoping that this one little article could launch a handful of people into a life of prayer. Consider the implications of my Presbyterian Church back home beginning to fast and pray and ask God to break into their lives. One thing that I have learned here is that things really do change when people pray. It is crazy but true. He can’t help but answer His bride crying out for His kingdom to come.

So, that is my conundrum. My article is due on Monday. If any of you guys have words of wisdom to share, they would be greatly appreciated.