Paul What Were You Thinking? Pray Without Ceasing?

Text: Psalms 139: 1- 4, 23-24

O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

    you discern my thoughts from far away.

 You search out my path and my lying down,

    and are acquainted with all my ways.

 Even before a word is on my tongue,

    O Lord, you know it completely.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

    test me and know my thoughts.

See if there is any wicked way in me,

    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Message:

Psalm 139 written by King David talks to us of a God who is inescapable. He is everywhere. He is a God with us. He is Immanuel. Before we go further down that road let us take a break and find out if it is so in ourlives. Is God so present in our lives? Do we actually believe that? Ok if we believe that do we live like that? Psalms 139: 4 says “Even before a word is onmy tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.” That statement has a lot of implication for our times. Rev Jacob Thomas, whom we called JT, is one of the most dynamic speakers that I have come across. As a teen he was talking to usand he asked us a question. What is that one word that comes to your tongue when you are angry? There was a long silence. The silence prolonged. He broke it by saying “I am sure that it is not God Bless You.” And we roared in laughter. We understood what he meant. I am sure even the readers have guessed it. It is 4 letter magic word that starts with ‘F’. Osho has a very interesting analysis of how this word became so prominent. Fredrick Neitzche propounded the philosophical statement that “God is Dead.” When this statement became accepted in the American Culture, Sex was the next obsession that took over. So this 4 letter word displaced God from the conversations. So this word espoused all the various range of emotions. More than a bad word it became an adverb which defines various ranges of emotions like ecstasy, anger, frustration, beauty,irritation and curiosity. This seems to be a very apt analysis. This 4 letter word is indispensable to our conversations. It is splashed out in our mental landscapes. You have songs, movies, dialogues all splashed with these words. If one follows Facebook this word is used very liberally and extensively. ‘WTF’ has become part of our accepted cool dude lingo. Now why am I insisting so much on this word? It is not just a word but it displays our attitude. Unlike the Psalmist, we feel that God is Dead. We act like that. Or if not that radical,we have assigned God to private spaces of prayer, church and songs.

Apostle Paul completely believed in this Psalm. That’s why he exhorted the people of Thessalonica to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). He does not talk about taking some time to pray or an hour to pray or about the benefits of having a quiet time. He says something more radical. He says pray without ceasing. Now the question arises is that “How is it possible?”The answer we may come to is “It is impossible.” This is because of our understandings about prayer. We normally divide our daily life into thoughts about God and thoughts about people and events. Therefore we have assigned God a space and time where we converse with him and think Holy thoughts and say holy things. God is therefore removed from our daily life and events. But Paul reminds us that Prayer is an unceasing conversation with God. It means to think and live in the presence of God. It is the joyful affirmation that God knows our minds and our hearts and that nothing is hidden from Him. Prayer is the presentation of all thoughts divine and mundane, ugly and pervert, daydreams and night dreams to our God. When I write it I know how easy it is to write such wonderful sounding good thoughts. But in my personal experience this is far from easy. This is asking too much. There is a deep resistance to making ourselves so vulnerable, so totally unprotected. I indeed want to love God and worship Him, but I also want to keep a huge part of my inner corner for myself,where I can hide and think of my own secret thoughts, where I can nurture my hatred, where I can fan my lust and speak whatever I want to. And when I come to pray I select the thoughts carefully and make it sound very pious and lofty.My fear is, can God tolerate what goes in my heart and my mind. Can he handle my cruel fantasies, shameful dreams, inflated illusions and my deep seated selfishness?Sometimes we just want to hold on to these things.

Paul is asking me to get into a fearless conversation with my God where I bring my good and bad, ordinary and extraordinary, evil and divine thoughts and deeds to the Lord. From unceasing thoughts I am asked to move to unceasing prayers where the touch of God heals my deepest contradictions and pains. Only then can we pray along with David with confidence “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalms 139: 23, 24) But then when we come to this point, I am reminded of a conversation where my friend asked “How do we feel God in a world that is so brutal and nasty. In my workplace and in the market it is very difficult to feel the presence of God. And to pray unceasingly is so much tougher in such circumstances. It is easier to worry than to pray.” Whenever we say this or that is difficult i am reminded of the words of Dr P. C. Mathews, who is a personal mentor to me. He says "Who told you that Christian life is easy? Who told you that being a disciple is a cake walk?"

John Newton, was converted to Christianity when he was on the sea and a terrible storm broke out. He cried out to God and he was saved. But even after his conversion he continued the trade slave that he was involved in.  He traded many African slaves. He prayed everyday but he also traded slaves. He was inhuman in his dealings but never missed to read the bible and pray. He had a friend in John Wesley who showed him that his prayer life and his practices are contradictory. But John Newton kept resisting it. But once in midst of prayer he felt convicted of his ways. He quit his life of a slave trader and became a crusader against Slave trade. It is in midst of his struggles that he wrote one of the most immortal songs“Amazing grace, How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” John Newton owned his wretchedness in the presence of the Lord and found that he was blind. He felt found by God and started seeing and feeling the presence of God.

In a world that denies the presence of God, we are called to‘Pray without ceasing.’ Prayer is a protest against the godlessness and thechaos of the world. Let us enter into a fearless, unceasing conversation with aGod who searches our thoughts and minds and still loves us.

Let us close this meditation with a song that sums our life and journey as Christians.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

When we've been here ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun.

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we've first begun.

Amen.

Rev Merin Mathew

Mar Thoma Syrian Church

Guwahati

Sleeping With The Frogs

Text: Exodus 8: 8- 10a

Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, “Pray to the Lord to take away the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” Moses said to Pharaoh, “Kindly tell me when I amto pray for you and for your officials and for your people, that the frogs maybe removed from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” And he said, “Tomorrow.”

Message

The biggest dread for me as a schoolboy was when the reports were distributed and parents were called. I consistently showed bringing low marks was an art that only few could manage. My mother tried to smile at the teachers who had nothing good to tell about me. My mother gave that look which would make time freeze and silence deafeningly unbearable. On our ride back somebody had to break the silence. And I took the initiative by saying “I will sincerely start studying from tomorrow. I will not keep things for the last moment.” But from experience mom knew that tomorrow was a comfortable land that I loved to live. Exams and semesters came and went but my trend to put things for tomorrow continued with some wonderful consistency. Reading John Ortberg’s “God is Closer Than You Think” I found I had a close associate who too lived in the mystical land called “Tomorrow.” Moses is challenging Pharaoh to free Israelites and God sends a series of plagues for Moses to have a bargain. And frogs were all over the land and the palace of Pharaoh was run over by frogs. What do Pharaoh’s magicians do? They create more frogs. How intelligent? It is here that Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron to pray to the Lord to take away the frogs. He decides he has had enough with this nuisance. Moses obliges and asks him when  to do the needful. Pharaoh without a blink blurts out “Tomorrow.” Tomorrow? In all possibilities he has been sleeping with the frogs jumping all around. When he was about to take a second helping of food,the frogs jump out. Frogs rule the landscape. I am sure he was seeing frogs in his dream as well. And when the moment to deal with it is here where all the frogs will be gone, he waits. He waits for tomorrow. He settles for another night with the frogs for company.

We too are like Pharaoh. Instead of taking a decision or dealing with a problem, we would prefer to sleep with the frogs, hoping that miraculously the frogs will disappear tomorrow. Why do we do this? Why does the present moment elude us so much? Why don’t we deal the problem when we are faced with it? In psychology this is called motivated irrationality where people tolerate and maintain faulty behavioural patterns that will destroy their lives. It is the inability to deal with the moment that we encounter. The encounter of the Rich young man shows us this problem. He was meeting Jesus to know how to earn eternal life. He knew Eternal life is tomorrow. It is in the future. It is way distant from now. But Jesus asks him to sell everything that he has and follow Him. The rich young man was interested like us in the abstract attraction of tomorrow. But Jesus demanded he do something right now. Take a decision this moment. But the Young man wished to sleep another night with the frog. But the most important time is now. If you are having a problem with someone, the time to resolve it is now. If you have hurt someone and you know you are wrong, let us be honest. Passing of time will never heal the wounds. Gather the courage and say sorry now. If your life is going in the wrong direction and more often than not, you know it, the time to act upon it step by step is now. If you are contemplating on making a decision and this decision is big, the time to make the decision is right now. This very moment is God’s irreplaceable gift to you. This moment matters the most because this moment is where God is.If you are going to be with God, there is no need to wait for a perfect time or day. You must be with him now, in this moment. This is the day of reckoning. Today is the day to act. Therefore the Psalmist sings “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalms 118: 24). Jean Pierre de Caussade coins this very beautifully by calling it “The Sacrament of the Present Moment.”Sacrament is defined as “means of grace.” It is where ordinary objects like water in baptism and bread in Eucharist , becomes the vessel for the extraordinary, for the divine. Similarly Caussade says that each moment of our lives can be a sacrament, a vehicle for God’s love and power. “ The present moment holds infinite riches beyond your wildest dreams, but you will enjoy them to the extent of your faith and love. To discover God in the smallest and most ordinary things, as well as in the greatest, is to possess a rare and sublime faith.”

 In our busy lives even prayer is kept for tomorrow. Prayer is believed to be done when one has no other recourse and all the options are beyond us. But prayer is inviting God into the present moment to partner with us. As we move burdened with the enormity of a problem, believing that by delaying to act upon it, things will change ,is foolishness. Prayer is developing the patience where we listen to God telling us ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”(Matthew 11: 28- 30). But the invitation to do it is now. One always feels that growing closer to God is somewhere in the future. “When this phase will get over I will be at peace.” “When the children have grown I will have time tostudy the bible.” “Once I retire I will have more time for mission and Church activities.” And we continue to sleep with frogs in the night, always waiting for tomorrow.

Naveen Alex is the son of my favourite teacher in the Seminary, Rev Dr Alex Thomas. Naveen has had to deal with the horrors of ragging when he was a student in a college in Chennai. But he dealt with it very positively. After passing out he got a secure job. At the same time he used to take workshops for school children and guide them. Once when we were chatting he told me he was contemplating on quitting his job and do full time mentoring of children who need guidance, focus and direction in life. His focus was teenagers and therefore he formed a group called ‘TeensMAD’ (Teens Making ADifference). The next I knew was he had made the decision and followed his heart. He truly is making a difference as a Mentor, Resource Person and Animator. He is an inspiration for the childrean and youths alike.  When he was faced with a decision he did not wait for a secure time and security of tomorrow. He just took the plunge. I know it is not easy but encountering God in every moment is an act of surrender. We do not need to sleep with the frogs but by surrendering to God we can take our decisions in the present moment. The time to act is now.

More than a meditation, this was a dialogue with myself. I have problems with surrendering to God. I have problems making decision in the present moment. I would rather procrastinate it till it vanishes. Prayers always are the last resort for me. If this is the case with you also, join with me in the meaningful prayer of Charles de Foucauld.

“Father, I abandon myself into your hands. Do with me whatever you will.

Whatever you may do,I thank you. I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.

Into your hands I commend my spirit. I offer it to you with all the love that is in my heart.

For I love you, Lord,and so want to give myself, to surrender myself into your hands.

Without reserve and with boundless confidence, for you are my father. Amen”

Rev Merin Mathew

Mar Thoma Syrian Church

Guwahati