"Shh....Be Still"

Last week, during the worship service at my church, I was praying for my son and an unresolved medical issue he is dealing with. During worship I had thought of all that has been required of him, the threat against his well-being, the unknown and my heart filled again with concern and desire.  “God! Please heal him!” was my cry.  As I continued to pray quietly, standing next to him, I heard in the spirit, “shh – be still!”  I was surprised; did the Holy Spirit just “shush” my prayers?! 

Isn’t it good to pray?  Are we not commanded to do so?  Philippians 4:6 immediately came to mind:  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Or think of when Jesus was teaching about prayer and told His followers, “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”   This is found in Luke 11:9 and I once heard it taught that the literal translation would be “ask and keep on asking, knock and keep knocking”…. The verb is a present/future tense that encourages repetition.

This issue I was praying for is not new, we have been dealing with this for nearly a decade!  We have asked countless times and still we ask, we seek and knock.  We persevere in faith for the miracle of healing we so desperately want for our son. 

So here I am feeling shushed in my prayers.  I was surprised, but only for a second.  I knew in my heart that my prayers in that moment were more from a place of fear than faith.  I was pleading, not praying.

There are times when it seems the Bible contradicts itself. Two values or teachings seem to oppose one anther and it can be confusing.  This issue of persisting in prayer is one such example.  There is a time to persevere in prayer, to bring our prayers and requests to God, to ask and keep asking.  And there is also a time to stop praying!

The best reason to stop praying for something is when your petition turns to celebration because the prayer has been answered.  But even when that is not the case, there is a time to stop praying and rest in faith that God has heard your prayers and is working on your behalf.  Jesus taught His followers in Mark 11:22-24 to have faith in the prayers they have prayed.  He says: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  He calls them to a bold faith that what they pray will be granted and that they should wait with faith until they see it.  In Matthew 6:7-8  Jesus warns us not to be too repetitious; “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” 

There are many more examples of passages to support both persisting in prayer and resting in knowing that God has heard your prayers already. The most important thing that came to mind for me this past Sunday was this: prayer comes from faith.  My prayers that morning were coming more from anxiety and worry than from faith.  It was good to be reminded to quiet my striving and “be still”.  The Psalmist records being told to be still:  “Be still, and know that I am God;  I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  This is Psalm 46:10 and “be still” can also be translated as “cease striving”. 

There is a time to rest in the assurance that God is with us, He is for us and He is working!  Once I find assurance and rest in the faithfulness of God, I can return to prayer from a place of faith.