Borrowing a Prayer

Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight , let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight .

Exodus 33:13

I remember the first time I asked for prayer.

I was a baby-believer, attending my first couples' Bible study with my husband. I'd listened to others share their praises and prayer requests for weeks--months--but never had the nerve to speak up. It was all too new, this praying out loud to an invisible God.

But, life as a new wife/college student/working girl was demanding and I was stretched thin. So, one night I asked, "Would you pray for me? I need to have more patience."

"Oh, you should never pray for that!" one of the other wives told me.

What!? There are things you can and can't pray for? How had I missed that?

Of course, I didn't know then what I know now: Don't pray for patience because you'll get tested--or so the Christian logic goes.

27 years later--and I'm still learning about prayer. I discovered the beauty of prayer as I listened to someone else pray. Beauty has had nothing to do with the words spoken. The beauty was revealed as I saw the relationship someone had with God. I've listened to a friend talk to God and thought, "She knows God. I'm listening in on a conversation. This almost feels too private ..."

By listening, I was drawn closer to God.

Thinking Out Loud Here: I'm an Accidental Pharisee on her way to retirement, as my Wise Guy likes to encourage me. I'm going to adopt Moses' prayer from Exodus 33:13: I want to know God's ways that I might know God. That's keeping it simple, which is a challenge to Accidental Pharisees. We like to muck our relationship with God up with this and that and oh, just one more thing that might make it better! I'll try the Keep It Simple Prayer Life. This One Thing I Pray: That I might know God's ways that I might know God.