DO PRAYERS LINGER?
"If you’ve quit saying that prayer, if praying for that one person or that one thing hurt too badly, so you had to shelf it for a little while, I think it’s okay..."
By Hannah Brencher
A few weeks ago, I spoke with a group of residents at our church about the beauty of unplugging and how the rhythm has lent
itself to many spiritual disciplines in my daily life.
At the end of the talk, the head of the program asked everyone to come around me and pray for me in this season ahead.
Hands touched my shoulders and my back as they gathered around me. A chorus of prayers began. They streamed in every direction, and I couldn't quite catch the words of just one.
Finally, I stopped trying to hear a single strand of prayer, and I settled
into the moment. I imagined each prayer like a balloon filling with helium. I imagined the balloons moving upwards and being released into the atmosphere, floating all around me as I walked through the rest of my day.
I think our prayers may linger.
Before someone replies about spiritual accuracy, I'll be the first to say it: no part in the Bible says our prayers linger, or they necessarily have a shelf life. The closest to the concept I could find is in Revelation 5:8, describing golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of God's people.
It's just something I've thought about lately.
What happens when we pray?
And where do those prayers go?
Are they all around us?
Or is each prayer like leaving a message on an answering machine after the beep?...Read More
