CLAIRE'S SNOWMAN

            I was sitting here on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011, a day after the blizzard warning and storm of Tuesday and Wednesday. Groundhog Day had come and gone, or maybe not, hard to tell. Things were definitely not back to normal.  To put it mildly, a "chill" was in the air.   I sat there pondering how much I HATE winter, and realizing that the sermon for Sunday is "Life is a Matter of Attitude".  My attitude was chilly to say the least.

            I sat there pondering past winters. Some were really bad, even in Kentucky, where I spent 23 years in ministry. I remember February of 1988.  That year we had a big snow storm, at least it was big for Kentucky. Six inches of snow were deposited on our "old Kentucky home." John was five at the time.

            John was getting ready for bed, and I asked John how he was doing.  He gave a heavy sigh as he was getting undressed and said, "I sure hope Claire got to build her snowman."

            I was somewhat puzzled at his statement, because it just seemed to come out of the blue. I asked John, ""Why do you hope that Claire got to build her snowman?" Claire, by the way, was one of the girls in John's preschool class.

            He said, "So she will quit praying for snow and cold weather!" I asked him why it was so important that she quit praying for snow and cold weather. John informed me, in no uncertain terms, that since we already had had a snow storm in January, it was time for warm weather so he could ride his bike.  He was now praying for warm weather.

            A little background information at this point might be helpful. John had been praying for snow since August. When it finally came in January, he was then ready for it to get warm. So, his prayers had shifted to praying for warm weather. This may help you understand his consternation and frustration at Claire and "HER" snow storm. It seems that the snow storm and cold weather were due to Claire's prayers. I had never thought of it quite this way, but it would seem that he and Claire's prayers were "thermostat prayers".

            I was beginning to get the picture.  Two prayer warriors in the same preschool class were praying against each other.  One was praying for cold weather and snow for the joy of building a snowman, and one was praying for warm weather and sun for the joy of riding a bike.

            Because of our latest bout with winter, this incident came to mind. Two people, both of whom are participating in prayers of petitioning supplication to God for something, are at odds. No matter that they are five years old, faith is not based on intellect or maturity necessarily. Faith is based on trust and surety, and there is nothing like the faith of children. That is why Jesus said that we need to come as little children if we want to come into the kingdom.

            Supplication is continual praying. The apostle Paul talked about it. Supplication is the ongoing quest for a given matter to be settled in God's will. Supplicating prayer has to do with the contingency of God's timing in a given situation.  If nothing else, these two children were both in supplication before God over snow and warm weather.

            I wonder how many times we may be in prayer for something and God seems to be so slow, or not listening, and it does not come about quickly. It may be because we are praying against one another.

            I think sometimes that timing in prayers has to do with God's will, and sometimes it has to do with human action. I would say that there are innumerable matters brought before the Father in prayer which are entwined in this world, and bound up in other peoples' lives.  There are prayers of supplication, intercession, and petition that are entwined in other peoples' circumstances and situations that have far reaching ramifications beyond the one immediately prayed for.

            When we begin to look at our prayers in relation to other people, and their consequences, we might pray differently. The immediate consequences of our prayers being answered may require Father God's dealing in the lives of other people as well. When we truly realize that our lives are connected with other people, we begin to understand God's timing a little bit better.

            We begin to understand things like, "Why did it take ten plagues and not just five to get the Israelis out of Egypt?" It took ten plagues because there were people and things involved and intertwined that just took "time".

            The best example though, is the cross of Jesus Christ. Nothing happens to bless humanity without a struggle. Not even God could redeem man or solve the infinitely complex puzzle or unravel the tangle of sin in peoples' lives without His own suffering and death.  It took time, and most of all, it took God entering the context of time. 

            Of course, my son John wasn't having deep thoughts like this.  Children, however, understand certain principles and accept certain principles that we somehow unlearn as we grow to adulthood. John, in his childlike faith, understood supplicating prayer and God's timing. He understood how our lives and therefore our prayers, are entangled. John expressed it so simply when he said, "I sure hope Claire got to build her snowman."

            I wondered at the time, Well, if she didn't, does that mean we get six more weeks of winter. After all, it was a day after Groundhog Day in the winter of 1988.

            So, WHOEVER IS OUT THERE IN NEWSLETTER LAND AND IS PRAYING FOR COLD WEATHER AND LOTS OF SNOW --- JUST STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

             See you sometime at the Great Banquet . . . . . Jack