On Good Friday our collegiate ministry participated in Secret Church with David Platt. This marathon night of teaching was awesome. David Platt said at the beginning that we would be drinking from a fire-hose. And he was totally accurate. It was great, but super overwhelming. I would recommend it to anyone.
One of the things that really stuck out to me the whole night was when he was talking about prayer. How so often we may feel like we may be disturbing God with our prayers. Jesus talks about this in Luke 11
"Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs."
David Platt talked about how God wants to hear from us and it isn't about bothering him, but more about allowing him to be a huge part of our life. As I was thinking about this and what it must have been for the man who's door was being knocked on at midnight, I remembered something that happened to me last summer.
It's late June in the Texas Panhandle. Extremely hot an we were moving cattle. Since it was so hot we were doing it at night hoping that it would be easier in the slightly cooler weather.
Here are a few pictures from that night. The sunsets where when we began and the last one shows us moving cattle. That's what it was like for us, we had very little light to see by. Which is a whole other story.
As the night progressed we realized the cattle where overheating and bloating. We lost one and nearly lost a few others. When we were about half-way we knew we couldn't keep going. We were close to some friends house and ranch which is where the analogy begins.
I went up to their door about 1 in the morning and knocked on the door to ask if we could put the cattle in their holding pens to let them rest for a few hours before we kept going. We knew we had to do something. I knocked and knocked and knocked and knocked. Finally they heard me. After being met at the door with a gun (I can check that off my bucket list) they realized it was me. I told them what was happening and of course they said we could leave the cattle there.
Just as we knock at God's door through our prayers it isn't a disturbance when He wants to help us. Just as I knew our friends would help us. I know God will. I also know that had they found out later we needed to stop but where scared of asking they wouldn't want that. They understand what was happening and where happy to help. I just had to ask. Just as we just have to ask God.
Remember that even when our prayers may seem like a disturbance, we serve a God who wants a relationship. Talking to Him is the only way that will begin to grow and deepen. Even through the seemingly little mundane things.
