Day 13 – Simplicity in Prayer
Brother Lawrence said that “we must act very straightforwardly with God, and speak to him freely, asking him for help in events as they happen, for God never fails to come to our aid, as he often experienced.”
He described his own experience of being given the task of traveling about three weeks round trip of several hundred miles on the river to pick up needed supplies.
Because he suffered painfully from a kind of sciatica gout that made him limp and he lacked the needed skill in these matters – a task that might seem easy for others – this assignment was both physically challenging and emotionally trying for him.
So what did Brother Lawrence do? “He did not worry about it or about his purchase. He told God it was his problem, after which he discovered that all was accomplished, and all was done well!”
There’s a simplicity in Brother Lawrence’s relationship with God that is refreshing.
Brother Lawrence was open and honest and frank with God. Telling God just the way he feels. Telling God everything with a childlike transparency.
He simply asks God for help and chooses not to worry about it. He simply trusts God and God enables him.
As he takes everything to the Lord in prayer, the Holy Spirit comes alongside him to help him. Brother Lawrence feels this and others acknowledge that all was done well.
To Brother Lawrence this is nothing short of a miracle. He concludes that he didn’t accomplish this task on his own. Rather, God did it for him.
Have you ever done something, looked back, and said, “I didn’t do that. God did it. God did that through me.” That was Brother Lawrence’s experience.
Keeping things simple with God and speaking to him honestly keeps our relationship with God fresh and vibrant.
Coming before God our heavenly Father with simple childlike trust is the surest way to receive a generous response (Matthew 18:3; Luke 18:17). Edgar Stites poetically captures this simplicity:
Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through a stormy way.
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Question: How could you cultivate a simplicity in your prayer life?
This is God’s Word for you today,
Pastor Dave
