by Sarah Knight

I got two big ideas out of the reading today. First, Solomon thanks God for “making good” on His promise to David to build the temple. Then the rest of his prayer is basically asking God to remain with Israel and guide them in the future. It is quite the prayer and Solomon gets really specific and detailed is his “prayer requests.” If I were among the community of Israel that Solomon was praying in front of, I wonder if I would have been thinking, “Ok, ok, I think God gets the point, so please say amen soon so we can eat!”

But I think God wants the “specifics” of our lives. Oftentimes my prayers are so general, like I’m reading it off of a cereal box or something. When I was little, my family had this little prayer that we’d say before dinner, and my three sisters and I had it memorized and we’d say it as quick as humanly possible so that we could eat. It was so quick that all the words would slur together and it was completely meaningless and not at all understandable. It seems like that’s what prayer becomes sometimes, a meaningless requirement, something to cross off the list.

Something what has helped me with this is writing down my prayers. It’s easier to focus, to be specific and more conversational with my prayers. Every now and then, I look back to things I’ve written down in the past and see what God has done with those “specifics.” It is truly amazing to look back and praise God just as Solomon did, for making good on His promises and for answering prayers, even if it’s not always what we had in mind.

Your fellow traveler,
Sarah