Teach me to pray

There are three things that are never satisfied,

Four never say, “Enough!”:

The grave,

The barren womb,

The earth that is not satisfied with water –

And the fire never says, “Enough!” [Proverbs 30:15b-16]

It’s the dry season in Dili now. Daily I am reminded of just how arid the land is. Every morning, I walk around the garden. I like being close to nature. I especially enjoy caring for the flowering plants dotting the small garden. I make my rounds under the hot sun, watering the plants. And again. And again. Eager for more greenery to sprout from the garden, I keep splashing water even on the bald, barren spots.

I observe how the dry land eagerly sucks up the moisture. For a few minutes, the ground revives, turns a dark brown, and becomes soft. But only for a few moments. Before long, the land becomes dry, hard, and barren again. And so I repeat the routine, until I am exhausted.

Today being Sabbath, I woke a little earlier, grabbed a chair, and sat on the porch overlooking the garden. It was nice and cool. I continued reading the book of Proverbs, looking up every now and then to watch the sparrows fly by.

And then the verse above jumped at me. How interesting I thought, I had just experienced the truth of this Scripture over the past few days. Indeed, the dry earth is never satisfied with water. It is always hungry for more.

I thought about prayer as an act of soaking the barren ground, preparing it for new life. I slowly began to understand the importance of prayer. Without it, the dry ground remains hardened and hostile, unable to sustain life. A little prayer merely wets the ground for a few moments. The moisture quickly dries up because of the sun. In the same way, only sustained, unceasing prayer will soak through the hardened ground, softening it, and preparing it to receive new life.

I’ve always known that I need to pray more. I need to pray longer, with greater intensity. I’ve heard many sermons exhorting us to pray. Made many promises to God, to pray more. But this morning, I grasped the truth behind prayer like never before. It is futile to try and grow a seed on dry, cracked land. In the same way, there cannot be spiritual growth and rebirth without much sustained prayer.

And it’ll take effort. I sweat and toil in the heat, hoping to splash water faster than the sun can suck up. Prayer too will not always be easy. And the spiritual opposition, though invisible, is real.

And so I pray, O Lord, teach me to pray.

July 22, 2007

Sunday