Prayer and Hurry

Devotional Classics, George Buttrick, Excerpts from Prayer

"We should not rush into the Presence; the church of private devotion should be entered through the vestibule in an orderly quietness. This comes best as a by-product of a mind focused on God." (p. 100)

Last Thursday the Lord impressed on me the verses "He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters." (Ps. 23:2) He reminded me that he is never in a hurry. Although he communicates urgency, that is not the same as hurry.

I hurry when I am unprepared. I realize that I have to "catch up" quickly and I run to get there. God is never unprepared. I don't think he wants us to hurry much either.

I hurry when I want something badly and am not willing to wait. God is patient. I want to be as well.

I hurry when I am angry and I want to get something over with. God is long-suffering. Much of the Christian walk needs perseverance.

I hurry when I forget God and his goodness and provision. God is good and blesses us richly. I need constant reminders.

God indeed must "make me lie down in green pastures" at times. Sometimes it is sickness. Sometimes it is someone driving slowly on a road. Sometimes it is my child not understanding what I am saying as I rush around. Neither can prayer be rushed.

I'll never forget a man sitting near me in church I went to with a friend in high school who would recite the liturgy of the church twice as fast as the priest and congregation of the church. It was amusing at first, but then disheartening. "What's the hurry?" I thought. Prayer is not a pill; it is a long cool drink.

But this lack of hurry, this quietness of the soul is not an end in itself. Why does God not hurry? Why would he have us live our lives in "holy leisure?" Psalm 23 :3 says "He restores my soul." Hurry empties me quickly and does not re-store my dwindling resources. Why? Because hurry cannot obtain what is truly fulfilling.

I cannot hurry love between people; why should I expect I could hurry love between myself and my Creator? Finishing well is often so much more important than finishing first. However, such assurance can only come through trusting God.

If God is not with us and providing for us, then we have every reason to hurry. Life is short; fill it up! If you don't do it, no one else will! Or as Paul says, "If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'" (1 Cor. 15:32)

Perhaps hurry is a primary indicator of a slipping faith. I hurry because I do not trust or believe. "The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace." (Rm. 8:6) I love the coupling of life and peace together. I don't think it's accidental.

Lord, show me how to remain with you through unhurried silence. Teach me how to wait patiently for you and your word. Let my mind be on you and hurry far away. I know that peace is not peace without you in the midst of it. Lead me to the still waters of your presence. Amen.

Lately, as a practice for not hurrying I have been deliberately driving the speed limit or slightly under. What a lesson in patience! It is so instructive to watch everyone rush around me, like the man who was "praying" at break-neck speed in that church long ago. Where are we all running to? What is the hurry?