Prayer Like Waves

I’ve been crying out to you, 
my Lord, my Father and my King, 
over and over and over again 
like ocean waves rolling in to crash 
and humbly recede into the mass 
of other currents, like other prayers.

This one overwhelming longing
will not let them stop. I beg:
Please bring my loved ones home
into your arms, into your Family!
I am distressed, seeing their confusion,
their blind eyes fixed on faulty paths!

And you keep on reminding me:
I hear you! I’m the Shepherd,
loving my faithful ones, all ninety-nine,
but always seeking the stubborn one
that wandered off. I know where they are.

So trust my goodness, my infinite wisdom!
I could grab lost Paul and turn him around;
I can grab your loved ones and cut right through
the tangled conceptions trapping them.
I am full of love; I will hunt them down!

Every time I’m at a beach I am entranced by the rise and fall of waves, their incessant pounding and the foam that crowns them then gets left behind as the wave bows and retreats. And another wave is already on its way!

Heartfelt prayer is like that. It doesn’t stop. It doesn’t give up. Love for others pushes intercession, whether they are suffering physically or emotionally, but especially if they are struggling spiritually and have wandered off of the One Way Home.

Is it okay to keep begging the Father to intervene? When you are longing for good for someone, yes! Paul underlined it clearly this way:

¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all. ¹⁵ See that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all. ¹⁶ Always rejoice, ¹⁷ constantly pray, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  ¹⁹ Do not extinguish the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not treat prophecies with contempt. (1 Thess. 5:14-20 NET)

When you live like this, always concerned for those around you, and doing what you can to kindly help them (even if that includes pointing out wrong behavior), you are also to “constantly pray.” You ask for God to work in their lives for their good, and that turns your heart to him and his guidance. What should be done next? How should you reach out to them? You are his servant. What is he telling you is your part in all this? His Spirit is in you to guide you, so that even if you are at a loss about how to pray he will take care of that for you:

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groaning. (Romans 8:26 NET)

And you are not to ignore what the Spirit says. He will give you direction, because there is “a time to rip, and a time to sew; a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.” (Eccl. 3:7 NET) Only our Lord knows which of those ways we should act, moment by moment.

Just do not quit praying! Our Father is not irked by our ongoing requests! Instead, he wants us to keep our hearts focused on him, knowing that only he can accomplish what we are yearning to see happen. He does direct us:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. ⁶ Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:5-6 NET)

Acknowledging him means to know him and what his directives are. It means paying attention to him all the time, every step. This strengthens our faith, and brings joy. That is why in I Thessalonians 5:16-18 it says:  Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. “Rejoice” and “give thanks” are bookends to faithful prayer! Our trust in God increases, eyes on him. We come to him with our concerns and thank him for listening, for caring, for being the Good Sheperd who will leave his huge flock in good pasture and go out chasing down the wandering sheep. Jesus himself said:

“Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it? ⁵ Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. (Lk. 15:4-5 NET)

Amen! May it be so!  This is the loving Shepherd that we count on. Let’s trust him and his wisdom! As our waves of prayer roll in, one after another, they leap high and drop fervently on their destination, producing a lovely froth of foam: joy and gratitude.