'Pray hard & hang loose'

Lutheran, The, Apr 2001 by Aldrich, Gayle V

Whenever she was asked how she managed to raise three active daughters and maintain such a sense of calm, my mother would lo inevitably throw her hands high in the air and, with a smile, proclaim that every day she would "pray hard and hang loose."

I surprised myself recently when I caught myself throwing my hands way up in the air, smiling and saying I would get through a tough turn of events by praying hard and hanging loose. Oh no! Was I becoming my mother? Or did her saying come from a basic belief that had proven effective in many situations?

I wasn't having a good week. I had lost my job because the company I'd been loyal to for 10 years was reorganizing-again. Then I called the man I loved to tell him about it. He informed me, without explanation, that he'd suddenly decided to marry another woman. I had a mortgage on a home I'd just finished building, and now I needed health insurance.

Suddenly significant portions of my life that I highly valued weren't valuing me. I sat alone on my bed among many pillows, crying my eyes out. But I kept hearing that familiar phrase in the back of my mind-- "pray hard and hang loose." It's going to be OK. God is in control. I can't control what is happening.

In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers writes: "Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man/woman. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves. But the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God."

"Ask and you will receive ... (John 16:24). Bring yourself before God and present the Creator with your problems-the very issues that have brought you to your wits' end.

Some people feel they are self-sufficient. They don't need to ask God for anything. In spite of all that I have -- material abundance and successes in my life-I've never considered myself self-sufficient. And so I pray.

Some say, "Prayer changes things." I like to think that prayer changes me, and then I change things.

God is the Creator of all things. Everything belongs to God, who is in control and is interested in my well-being. It's at God's discretion that people are made great and given strength. The Bible gives us a unique perspective:

Jeremiah 29:11-14 --"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future ...."

Philippians 2:12-13-"Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to God's good purpose."

Luke 11:1-"One of his disciples said to him, 'Lord teach us to pray .... "'

While it should be easy to put full trust in God and in Jesus, I must rely on the Spirit's guidance-a very real force. Rely on the Scripture's teachings daily-it's a road map for life. Even when I don't understand God's directing, meditate on it. Pray and ...

... hang loose. When I feel the Lord is directing me, I act. God gives me a peace about decisions as doors of opportunity open and close.

This may mean leaving a comfort zone. I keep focused on Jesus and the Spirit and trust even when understanding isn't obvious, believing God won't abandon me. Along the way I will struggle and ask many questions. But when I put God first, at the end there always is a peace and a blessing.

I read Daniel and see how the Lord answers our prayer even as we pray: "He said to me, 'Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words" (10:12).

Few people question the need for times of conversation with God, or prayer. It's more difficult to admit the need to quietly wait upon God, or to hang loose. This is the time for looking into God's face, feeling for God's hand, listening for God's voice. The deepest truths often come in moments of profound devotional silence and contemplation.

The times we need most to trust in God are precisely when it's most difficult to trust-when we are in despair. The Bible instructs us to give thanks in all circumstances. It doesn't tell us we have to be smiling while we say it. I suspect that difficult periods become our most treasured times because they are priceless tokens of trust in God, when trusting is the last thing on earth we feel like doing. And so I pray, "I believe, help my unbelief."

A bad week must be kept in this perspective. It's likely there was little or nothing I could have done to change any of the events that transformed my life.

When life's tumultuous cycles of change throw us for a loop, we're reminded that we aren't in control. That's hard to accept. Still, we know who is in control and who cares for us-God. And I know what I must do to remain centered in God and, in time, move forward: Pray hard and hang loose.

Aldrich writes and lives near the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis with her cat, Cougar J.