Day 1:
My faithful God is with me in the mundane, the ordinary and the extraordinary
My times are in Your hands. (Psalm 31:15)
For a long time, my daily commute included a section of highway where traffic converged from various directions. Known as Mixmaster interchanges in some states, these merge points can often be congested and quite dangerous.
Every day, as I approached the interchange, I would lift up a prayer for “safety, opportunity, and good judgment.” As I breathed out my prayer one day, I had a thought, an impression in my spirit—"What about all the other sections of roadway?”
My highway epiphany that day made me think about the way I approach prayer, and life in general. It’s not that I have abandoned “situation-specific” prayer—far from it! But the experience made me realize that I am quite often selective about the things or circumstances in my life that I subconsciously designate as “prayer-worthy.”
If I applied the underlying “logic” I used in my Mixmaster approach to prayer, driving in my neighborhood might not qualify for “high priority prayer.” Yet the American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that about 52 percent of all car accidents happen within a five-mile radius of home. If that’s not alarming enough, 69 percent of all collisions happen within a 10-mile radius from home. It seems I need to be as prayerful about a routine run to the supermarket as I am about a cross-country drive!
For many, as for me, it is easy to offer up a prayer when we are fearful, uncomfortable or uncertain. We become strongly aware that we need prayer when we approach the Mixmaster interchanges of life. But what about all the other sections of roadway? I’m learning that in driving, as in life, there is no time when I can truly say, “I got this!” Routine rides may turn into accident statistics, routine job evaluations into “lay off” news, routine physicals into major health crises.
For the disciples of Jesus, a “routine” nap in a garden preceded a series of events that was to change their world and ours forever. Jesus knew what was ahead and encouraged them to prepare. “Watch and pray,” He told them, “so that you will not fall into temptation.” Clueless, they fell asleep—and fell into temptation—rash violence, failed loyalty, denial, doubt… (Matthew 26:36-75).
Like the disciples, we have no idea what lies ahead. No wonder the Scripture tells us to pray continually (without ceasing)! (1 Thessalonians 5:17). For me, it becomes easier when I pause to give God my “routines”, knowing “I don’t got this.”
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