Prayer can get weird.
Not because that’s how God intended it, but because we, being the way we are, can make it weird. Some of the strangest, funniest, and most downright bizarre things I have observed over the years happened in prayer meetings. Things we pray about, how we pray . . . it must seem bewildering to the uninitiated.
I want to emphasize that I am not mocking prayer or those who pray (I’m a firm believer in it) . . . just how we pray and some of the things we pray about. Christians can become so immersed in our own little world that we forget that some of what we do is just tradition and makes no sense to anyone not from the same background.
I plan to share some of these, and I hope you’ll share your experiences or observations as we go along. In all my stories and comments I’ll do my best to hide any identities and protect the innocent.
Falling Asleep
I’ll admit it. I have done this.
In my defense, I had not slept in over 24 hours. The pastor was taking an offering for a missionary to build an orphanage.
After drifting to the left, right, and backward – then narrowly avoiding an embarrassing (and potentially harmful) face-plant in the seat ahead of me – I finally folded my arms across the metal folding chair and laid my head down.
Don’t judge me . . . you’d have done the same.
Some time later (anywhere from 5 – 30 minutes), I was awakened by shouting and cheering. I peered blearily at my friend.
“Did they reach the goal?”
“We did! Praise the Lord, He answered your prayers!!”
I can’t tell you how close I came to letting him think that.
Someone said confession is good for the soul. The same can’t always be said of a friend’s opinion of you.
How about you? Ever fallen asleep in prayer and lived to tell about it? Seen someone who has?
I will tell a brief story of falling asleep in prayer. I will also protect the certain party of which I write and not mention their name.
We were in Mozambique Africa and we had gone into the bush country, for what was supposed to be 5 days. We were sleeping in tents, walking to all the surrounding villages and evangelizing, as well as teaching the Pastors that came everyday. we had three sessions a day for the Pastors. Also having devotions for the Americans everyday. I say this in this person’s defense as you did yours. Now to the reason for prayer, or sleep. Our ride had not returned the promised 5th day and we had been there for 9 days. Also a American Senior that was with us was very ill. I am talking projectile protein spill combined with the oddest throat noises I have ever heard out of a human man. We needed to pray. We were out of store bought water, this man was very ill, and we had been detained 4 days from other work 100′s of kilometers away. We gathered around this brother on bamboo mats in a mud hut, grass thatch roof church and began to have individual round the room prayer as you felt led. Two prayers in of the 8 healthy Americans, someone next to me begins to snore softly. I raise my head an tilt it to take a Baptist peak, and on the other side of the culprit, or very tired person, was another American looking back at me with a opossum grin. He mouthed the words “Do we wake him?” I mouthed back “If he gets louder.” and then we both giggled like school girls respectfully, reverently, and quietly not to raise suspension of others and the sleeper.
Having done so myself, I’m slow to judge people for this. Love the “Baptist peek” description, btw!