Red Sea Rules #4

This one's short & sweet:

PRAY.

These can be long prayers. The author says, on two occasions, he was in prayer all night about crises in his life. Wow. When I was first diagnosed, there were LOTS of sleepless hours for me. But not entire nights. Still, somewhere along the way, I was taught to pray when I can't sleep. The theory is that the devil's happy when you're up worrying, but he hates it when we pray. So if we pray in those sleepless hours, he'll leave you alone and let you fall asleep so you'll stop praying. Not sure about the theology of that, but it's a good way to spend those sleepless hours.

We can also use short prayers. As simple as asking God to give you love when you have to deal with someone you don't like. Or wisdom. Or healing. I've prayed that one a lot in the past two years - I mean, sometimes there's nothing more to say than, "Please heal me." Often when things are really scary and stressful, a short prayer is all I can fit in between my anxious thoughts at first.

My husband and I use a version of the love prayer a lot when we're driving. Talk about trivial, short-lived, but intense challenges! Those Other Drivers can really be crazy. But here's our motto: Jesus loves the idiots, too. Yes, we're still being insulting. But we're also trying to cultivate a different perspective. And you know what? After several years of remembering that Jesus loves the idiots on the road, there's less road rage in our cars.

Whether our prayers are long or short, sincerity matters. In our Red Sea story, the Israelites "cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses [their leader], 'Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die the wilderness?'" This makes me giggle a little - they're so dramatic! And, like all of us, they quickly forgot how they'd been delivered from difficulty just days before. So if you mess up and don't get it right, keep resetting - the Bible is full of people who mess up and start again. And again. And again.

But the main point is that they cried to God for help. Even though they couldn't see how God could deliver them, they still prayed to Him for deliverance. When we're desperate and can't see our way out of our difficulty, we can focus on God.

Kind of like me, being just 5'2", following my brother, who's 6'4", out of a big crowd. He can see a way out that I could never see from my perspective. If I ask for help and follow his lead, I'll make it out.

Hey friends... it's HAMMER TIME! Remember his song Pray? 

"We've got to pray just to make it today." 

Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xNSgBkum7o&feature=kp

You're welcome. ;)