I was chatting with a young friend of mine, recently. She’d missed school the day before, and I said, “I bet your friends missed you.”
She grinned a little bit, and shyly said, “Yeah.”
“And I bet they were happy to see you back today.”
She nodded her agreement.
And I had a great idea!
“You should take a picture of yourself and have a print made of it. Then, you can give it to one of your friends, and when you’re sick, she can put it on the table at where you usually sit at lunchtime. Then all your friends could see you and think about you, and maybe make a plan to text or phone you after school’s over.” (Texting isn’t allowed during school hours.)
I got a bit of a grin in return. Then I went on . . .
“No! I have a better idea! You should all have photos made! Then, when anyone’s sick, you can put her picture at the place where she usually sits. And the rest of you can think happy and supportive thoughts for your friend. Great idea, huh!”
I’m not completely sure she’s totally on board with the idea.
New plan–what if there are just name cards. And each friend can have the cards of their friends. And if they don’t want to put their cards out on a table, they can at least look, individually, at their friend’s name and think about their quick recovery. And, for the praying sort, they’ll have a nice photo to look at while they’re sending up those prayers.
Great idea! Don’t you think.
And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat? Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
Matthew 6:6 (The Message Translation)
Maybe I’d be a better prayer partner and warrior if I made a little photograph album with family and friend photos. I was about to suggest that I pull it out at red lights for some quick praying, but I’m thinking that I’d just hold up traffic. I can see I’m going to need to do some more thinking and planning for this project. And, praying.