She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her, You are the God who sees me, for she said, I have now seen the One who sees me. Genesis 16:13 This prayer, recorded in Genesis 16, is the prayer of Hagar, the Egyptian servant of Abraham and Sarah. Years after God had promised Abraham and Sarah children, and no children had come, they took it upon themselves to “build a family through” this … [Read more...] about Being Seen by God as Prayer

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26 Sometimes prayer is God expressing for us what we cannot express. It is not uncommon for us to think of prayer as something we have to do on our own power. This way of thinking of prayer often includes … [Read more...] about God Expressing for Us What We Cannot Express as Prayer

So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Luke 15:20 The young man in this story is returning home. He is desperate. He is homeless. He is starving. He has blown all his inheritance and made a mess of his life. He is practicing a prayer … [Read more...] about God Running to Embrace Us as Prayer

I am tired of pretending in your name. I am tired of pretending that problems don’t exist, that feelings are to be disregarded. I am tired of pretending that I do not struggle. I need truth, not pretense. I am hungry for what is real. I long to feel passionately the joy and sorrow you made me capable of. I need, in your name, to weep and to laugh, to mourn and to dance. I … [Read more...] about In Your Name

All the complex considerations of doctrines, all the debate over interpretations, are like a faint and distant roar to my weary heart. I have no strength to entertain such matters. I have been stripped of my presuming. All I have left is one sure and simple thing. It is this. I need you. This is the sum total of my faith today. It is my one sentence doctrinal statement. It … [Read more...] about All I Know

I feel as if I do not know you anymore. I am agnostic. In this place of not knowing, I sit and wait, wondering if you really are, and if all I ever dared hope about you and your love can possibly be true. You claim to show yourself to people like me. All I can do is look for you and wait for you. But how long? How long? ------ How long, O Lord? Will your forget … [Read more...] about Agnostic

A single silent scream launches with sudden violence from my inner depths and rockets toward the distant steel blue sky. And for just an instant I can see white jet stream forming a vapor link between my stricken heart and you. ------ I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit. Job 7:11 from Heaven at My Door by Juanita Ryan … [Read more...] about Desperate Prayer