Have you ever been too sick to pray? I doubt it. Unless you were unconscious, you were not. You were probably never hurting too much to cry out to God. You were never too upset to pray. When you most upset you had to tell God.
But did you pray as much or as fervently after you began to feel better? I seldom have, and that is a shame. God often speaks clearly to us through illness, even if it is no more than a cold. But it is hardest to hear His voice when we are distracted by discomfort. When you are feeling a little better, you need to pray for sound insights. That is the time you will be able to fathom the depth of what God has been saying.
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Comments
I love the idea of "stones of remembrance" very much! Thank you! It may become a precious family tradition as well - to show and tell the upcoming generations about God's goodness and faithfulness that will encourage and inspire them in their own challenges for many years to come.
Thank you, Andrew. You always have great insights. I did not even think about Thanksgiving. I will write a writingprayerfully blog this week on the same subject. I will include thanksgiving, not only as a wonderful and righteous response, but as a key to insight.
Well said, David! I think it's precisely that failure to pray "in the aftermath" that led to the constant cycles of Israel turning away from God in the book of Judges. They cried out to him in their distress and he rescued them, but rather than making the effort to remember his provision and his rescuing hand, they chose to forget and once again plunged into idolatry. The pattern continued under the kings.
Prayer in the aftermath - expressing thanksgiving to God, recalling what he has done, maybe even setting up "stones of remembrance" - can help keep our eyes focused on Him who is our hope and can help prepare us for the next crisis (and yes, there will be a next crisis).