Hope for Your Heart: Finding Strength in Life's Storms (20 page)

When loving communion with God is the object of your prayers, the details of how and where and when you pray will take care of themselves. It is a mistake to apply too many rules to the process. Too much head knowledge about prayer only gets in the way.

Even so, the following commonsense pointers, which would enhance any relationship, remind us that God is a
person
, and prayer is nothing more than conversation with the One you love.

Be present
. Brother Lawrence was a seventeenth-century French monk who worked in the kitchen of a monastery in Paris. Details of his life are recorded in a little book called
The Practice of the Presence of
God
.

Brother Lawrence believed that prayer was not a special activity we engage in at special times or only in “sacred” places. For him it was a state of being, the constant awareness that God is present in all things.

His prayer was nothing else but a sense of the presence of God, his soul being at that time insensible to everything but divine love; and that when the appointed times of prayer were past, he found no difference, because he still continued with God, praising and blessing Him with all his might, so that he passed his life in continual joy.
⁸

He realized that because God is present at all times and is as near as our own thoughts, conversation with Him has no obvious beginning or end. Brother Lawrence refused to divide his life into artificial compartments and deprive himself of intimacy with God.

The time of business . . . does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.
⁹

Time you spend behind closed doors in devoted prayer is wonderful and necessary. Just don’t be fooled into thinking prayer is always above or beyond your daily life.

It is available to you when you’re stuck in traffic, doing laundry, paying bills, or preparing dinner. God is always present and ready to talk. You can be too.

Be real.
In Mark Twain’s
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
, Huck finds himself in a moral quandary. He says:

I made up my mind to pray, and see if I couldn’t try to quit being the kind of a boy I was and be better. So I kneeled down. But the words wouldn’t come. . . . It warn’t no use to try and hide it from Him. . . . Deep down in me I knowed it was a lie, and He knowed it. You can’t pray a lie—I found that out.
¹⁰

It’s a shame that Christians sometimes take a long time to discover what Huck realized right away: When you are struggling with one of life’s storms, you might as well tell it like it is. God already sees what you would hide.

He knows you are jealous of your coworker’s promotion ahead of you. He knows you think your husband might be unfaithful. Why not be honest about how angry or afraid you are? What do you gain by pretending?

If you want to discover the true power of prayer and the true depth of God’s love for you, stop telling Him only what you think He wants to hear. You can’t shock Him or disappoint Him. Speak the truth to Him:

• “I’m depressed, and I don’t know if I want to keep living.”
  
• “I don’t want to be a parent anymore.”
  
• “I know I should give up this bad habit, but I really don’t want to.”
  

When you pray, be honest. With nothing to hide, you have nothing left to lose by trusting God. Hope begins the moment you give yourself the freedom to be who you are, warts and all, before your loving heavenly Father, confessing your faults to Him and trusting Him to continue to make you into the person He wants you to be.

Be thankful.
Sometimes we fail to find intimacy with God because our prayers are filled with nothing but our own concerns and requests. In other words, we forget that our interaction with God must flow both ways in order to thrive.

This is not because God “needs” something from us (although we have seen how fervently He
wants
our love). No, it is simply that self-obsession stifles any conversation and eventually stunts any relationship.

That’s because in order to give thanks, we must momentarily take our eyes off of ourselves and our problems. Taking stock of His goodness restores lost perspective and reminds us that no matter how rough the seas become, we are securely anchored in Him.

Be quiet and listen.
Sometimes we think God will be most impressed by an uninterrupted stream of chatter. God is a great listener, but He has plenty to say as well. Many of the problems you bring to Him really do have practical solutions you can know right away. The indwelling Holy Spirit makes it possible to hear His voice with divine clarity and insight you can trust.

When you pray, take time to be still and receptive to God’s wisdom.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon wisely wrote, “Because God is the living God, He
can
hear; because He is a loving God, He
will
hear; because He is our covenant God, He has bound himself to hear.”

In moments of pain and despair, this is what you need to know to restore your hope: God is willing and able to hear you. Always.

The only uncertainty is this: Are you ready to speak and listen to Him as your Lord, your lover, and your friend? Will you pour out your heart to Him with no pretense? Will you give Him thanks and praise Him for who He is and all He has done? Can you be still in every moment and listen to His loving guidance?

If the answer is
yes
, then hope is sure to be yours again.

“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Sam. 3:9).

At age seventeen Joni had everything going for her—an attractive personality, good looks, and natural athletic ability. She was a tennis player and swimmer, and her physical gifts distinguished her as a true athlete.

But that would all change one hot July afternoon in 1967 when she darted and dashed about in cool waters . . . for the last time.

A self-described risk-taker, Joni positioned herself for a refreshing dive, jumped, and in an instant her body was rocked from head to toe. It was a tragic miscalculation . . . the water was far too shallow. Her head hit bottom, and her neck snapped on impact, leaving Joni paralyzed in all four limbs.

The months that followed were filled with dismay and depressing adjustments to life in a wheelchair . . . and the realization that she would never again do all the physical activities she’d enjoyed before the accident. She found herself having suicidal thoughts, even asking friends to help her end her life.

Thankfully, she had brought to her teen years a Christian faith that had been nurtured in childhood. She admits that her faith was not strong at the time of her accident, but God moved in her life and caused the kind of security in Him that would sustain her through countless challenges.

And there were plenty of daunting disappointments too. She and her family and friends prayed many times for miraculous healing. At one point she decided to attend a healing service. She had hoped to
walk away
from the healing service, but instead she was
whisked away
.

That day Joni Eareckson Tada, wheelchair-bound but holding out hope for a miracle, believed her moment had come.
¹¹
At some point during the service, perhaps while testimonies were shared or choruses were sung, she surely would sense a powerful surge permeating and restoring her body, prompting her to walk away from her wheelchair
forever
.

But the words of an usher soon dashed expectations, not only for Joni but also for about forty others in wheelchairs or on crutches who were hoping for healing. “Let’s escort you all out early so as not to create a traffic jam,” he directed as other ushers joined in to assist in the exodus.
¹²

It was a very solemn stream of individuals who left the arena that day. The service droned on behind them, and Joni remembers thinking,
Something’s wrong with this picture
.
¹³
Another moment of hopefulness had been dashed.

After years of praying for healing and wrestling with Scripture, Joni has found peace and a resolute commitment to the lordship of Jesus Christ in her life. “Suffering is that good sheepdog, always snapping at my heels and driving me into the arms of my Shepherd. For that, I am so grateful. I am so grateful.”
¹⁴

Joni is the founder of Joni and Friends, a ministry geared toward facilitating the evangelizing and discipling of people with disabilities.

Surely this courageous woman asked the questions all of us would ask:
Why did this happen to me? Why did God allow it? Why didn’t He protect
me or heal me?

From our earthly perspective, we can’t know why it was God’s will for Joni to experience such a tragedy. But one thing we do know: He has used the experience to speak through Joni in a marvelous and miraculous way. Through the outreach of her hands-on ministry, books, speaking engagements, and daily radio broadcasts, she has brought encouragement and God’s love to millions upon millions of people around the globe.

“I’d rather be in this wheelchair knowing Him than on my feet without Him,” Joni resolutely declares.
¹⁵
But these are not words that roll easily off her tongue. They are couched with grace . . . and grit . . . uttered from decades of pain and anguish in wrestling with the reality of life in a wheelchair, life totally dependent on Him and on family, friends, and colaborers. And it is this same mobile chair that propels Joni before the throne of God like nothing else. For only
there
can she find the strength to deal with her circumstances day by day, and sometimes second by second.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Heb. 4:16)

John Newton (1725–1807) was raised by a devoted Christian mother who longed for her only son to become a preacher.
¹
But she died while Newton was still a child, and he eventually followed the example of his sea captain father into a sailing life.

Newton initially had highbrow hopes and joined the Royal Navy, but he didn’t like the rigid discipline, so he abandoned ship. Later he was flogged and eventually discharged.

The dishonorably discharged Newton then headed to faraway regions, where he could do whatever he wanted to do, and ended up on the west coast of Africa working for a cruel slave trader.

Newton’s life during that period bore the appearance of a modern prodigal son: “a wretched looking man toiling in a plantation of lemon trees . . . clothes had become rags, no shelter and begging for unhealthy roots to allay his hunger.”
²
After more than a year of such treatment, he managed to escape in 1747.

Inheriting his father’s sea legs, Newton spent a good bit of time at sea, and during one particular severe storm Newton was saved
.
As waves crashed and swept across the deck of the ship, Newton was tucked away flipping pages, enthralled with what he was reading in Thomas à Kempis’s
The Imitation of Christ
. During this life-threatening voyage, Newton gave his life to Christ.

Despite his newfound faith, Newton served as captain of a slave ship for the next six years, but he increasingly came to abhor slavery and later crusaded against it. Initially he was sharing about Christ in whatever vacant building he could find. Later he trained for the ministry and was ordained in the Anglican Church. Known as the “old converted sea captain,” Newton attracted large audiences. He not only had a changed life through Christ . . . his life was also anchored in Christ.

The traditional hymns of the day did little to stir Newton’s heart. So he began writing his own hymns (many of them autobiographical in nature), including the most beloved hymn of all time, “Amazing Grace!” This indeed was his story.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found;

Was blind, but now I see.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come;

’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

After this slave trader received a transformed life, he wanted everyone to experience salvation “by [God’s] grace . . . having the hope of eternal life.”
³
Newton also collaborated to produce the standard hymnal of evangelical Anglican churches, which for the next century continued to be reprinted in England and in the United States.

As an elderly man, Newton needed to retire because of his declining health and failing memory. He readily admitted, “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior!”
⁴

Down through the centuries, no one knows how many people have been inspired and have received hope through the hymn “Amazing Grace.” The guaranteed
hope
that this “great sinner” had in his “great Savior” has impacted innumerable lives throughout the world.

John Newton knew he had absolute security. He had an anchored life. In the fourth verse of this famous hymn, he presents the great security of God’s hope:

The Lord has promised good to me,

His Word my
hope
secures;

He will my Shield and Portion be,

As long as life endures.