I write on a dusty 75-degree day, sitting on the roof in the afternoon. My Victoria’s Secret sunglasses dull the gloriously bright Saharan sun. The smell of smoke lingers as Ben just burned 5 large buckets full of trash from behind our house, as our neighbors found it convenient place to dump.
I hear loud Quranic chanting in the background. The land is sparse as the hot season approaches, and everything is a bland shade of brown. I swallow a refreshing gulp of water from the water bottle mom handed me just before I walked out the door to the airport. I plant my flip flops on two corners of the plastic woven tapis I am seated on as the relentless hot wind keeps coming, like a hair dryer that cannot be turned off.
Prayer. Can it be defined? The soul’s exchange with it’s Maker. Spirit meets Spirit. My eternal being within the earthly body comes close with with the One who always was, always is, and always will be. Like a look at someone who looks back and you are understood and changed. Peace. Worship. Singing. Intimacy. Sometimes groaning. A place of offering. Of wrestling. Of giving. Of indescribable joy. Of breaking. Of taking. Of breathing. Of healing. I cannot live without prayer…in fact, I won’t.
“Be anxious for nothing. But in EVERYTHING, by prayer and petition, make your requests known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will GUARD your HEART and MIND in Christ Jesus. “ Phil 4:17
How can I live without prayer? How can I carry my worry, my fear, my tasks, my family, my finances, my future, my dreams, my humanity alone? I cannot.
How could I exchange overriding peace in my HEART and MIND for 10 more minutes of internet, an eye-brow pluck or a cleaner house? I cannot afford this exchange. For I must have peace. And I must have HIM.
And He must have me. Hallelujah.
“Prayer is not preparation for the battle. Prayer is the battle.” –John Piper
