Snow was falling so hard as I neared the top of White Horse Pass the wipers on my old Toyota truck could not clear the wind-shield. Nothing was visible in the headlights but dim whiteness of a full-blown blizzard. I looked at the clock in the dash-board, 3:00 am. Where had this storm come from? It had been clear when I had come through Ely. I guess that it made no difference, it was a white-out and I was in the middle of it
I had left my place in St George Utah at midnight for my weekly drive to Wendover Nevada where we were working on the foundations for the new addition to the Peppermill Casino. It normally took me about 5 or 6 hours to drive through the back roads of southern Utah, eastern Nevada and eventually over White Horse Pass on old US 93 before dropping down into Wendover, just west of the Salt Flats. Pretty much a boring drive, but not this Monday morning.
The snow continued to fall. I could no longer tell where the road was except for the reflectors lining the roadside. For the first time in a while I wanted to pray and like the other times I had done so over the past 20 years it was always making a bargain with God. “Get me out of this and I will be a better guy.” Or “Help me through and I will go back to church.” Whatever my promise I was sure not to hold up my end of the bargain once the crisis was over. My so-called prayers were empty promises to a God I really did not believe in.
The fact is, prayer was always a mystery to me. When I was a kid growing up in the Catholic Church, they seemed to be something mumbled out of a book or repetition while fingering rosary beads. But was not until I realized that prayer was like talking to a loved friend that I was able to see it as an essential part of my life.
I love this verse, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6). It is exactly the opposite of the way I spent most of my life. For years I lived in anxiety and had nowhere to turn. But once I trusted that no matter what was going on in my life I could turn it over to the One who already saved me, it changed everything.
But there is so much more to prayer than knowing, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) Jesus promises in these words that our prayers will be answered. I know now I can trust that. But what if you spent all day just asking your wife or your friend to do things for you. How long do you think that relationship will last?
The Bible also tells us that God is enthroned on our praise, Psalm 22 verse 2 puts it this way: “Yet you are holy and are enthroned on the praises of Israel.” I read once that if you are going through tough times and you are trying to find God in the mess of your crisis and circumstances, just stop it. Quit trying to find God, and start praising and worshiping Him and he will find you.
So often it seems when we try on our own or spend all our time seeking answers that we are missing the point. If God promises that He inhabits our praise, then maybe we should spend a lot more time doing just that. Praising God not for what He does but for who He is. Lately I have been making a list of His attributes and every morning just picking one to spend ‘praise’ time. It is amazing how it changes my day. I see more of God all around me and in others too. And I seem to spend less time worrying about my woes.
That morning up on White Horse Pass, I did cry out to God and I now believe that even in my prayer-weak state that He answered me. My little ½ ton Toyota made it through what I later found out was nearly 18” of snow that fell in less than an hour, without snow tires or much of anything else. God answered a man who at the time didn’t even believe. Every time I think of that morning now, I smile and say in my heart, “How great is our God,” and spend a few moments praising Him. And when I think of our God on a cross, I can only say thank you, O Lord, for saving a wretch like me. It is cool that prayers do not have come out of a book at times like these but from my heart. But I also thank God that there are days I can pray right from His Word. Bottom line is that He is waiting for us to knock. Maybe today is a good day to try it.
Blessings John,
6/9/17
Prayer and the White Horse Pass…
