I am a very impatient person. Most of my frustrations in life stem from this quality, and one of those is inconvenience. I often thrive in the fast-paced expediency of modern culture, but I recently moved to an apartment complex with terrible cell phone reception. I had often heard of so-called “Dead Zones,” but had never really experienced one. They are as unpredictable as they are lethal, and can drive people to madness. One day I found my roommate sitting in the corner, neck stretched into an unnatural position and his cell phone raised to the sky. “I think I…nope, lost it again,” he grumbled. Glancing out the window, I saw my neighbors trying to obtain the elusive signal. Students wandered the parking lot yelling into their phones; men and women stood on their cars screaming “Why me?” to the heavens; and I saw one individual trudging off into the wilderness. (I don’t recall ever seeing him again.)
I fared no better than my disgruntled companions. No matter where I stood/sat/leaned/crouched/laid in my apartment, I could only grasp reception for a few unsatisfying minutes. I was down to my last option: patience. I am still in the process of learning this virtue, and have been successful in not throwing my phone against the wall, due largely to the fact that I cannot afford another one.
Few things are as frustrating as poor communication. In an age where worldwide connections are simply a click away, is it any wonder why prayer has fallen by the wayside? In one sense, prayer is the most accessible tool of communication we have, yet it is also the most difficult. How often have I treated God as if I were simply chatting with Him over Facebook? I casually lift up a prayer of need, if the circumstance calls for it, and greedily await His reply. When my answer does not come right away, I grow irritated and impatient with God. It never occurs to me that the faulty connection might be on my end.
There are days when God seems silent. We may be crying to the heavens, only to be met with the echo of our own voice. Does God even care? Is He listening? Will He answer? As I grapple with these questions, I am taken to the prayer life of Jesus. Jesus prayed so that He might communicate and align Himself with His Father’s will. However, my prayers are usually selfish, asking God to accommodate to my plans and my wishes. Have I missed the point of what prayer is? Perhaps prayer is more about changing me and growing closer to God and His will rather than checking off my personal wish list. It is about His will, not ours. While it is true that God is our heavenly Father, let us never forget He is also our King.
“Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matt 6:9-10
Mike Blackaby is 25 years old and is the college and young adult pastor at First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, GA. Mike loves to play music, loves to snowboard, play hockey, and cheers for the Colorado Avalanche. He is terrified of spiders, but loves reading fantasy novels, watching movies, taking road trips, building camp fires, and will do any roller coaster if someone goes with him. You can contact him via Facebook.