A New Lesson

I have been known to think, and even say from time to time, that in tough times, we need to pray more.  We need to read more of the Word.  When going through tough times, it has always seemed to me that more is better when it comes to praying and reading the Word.  And while I still agree with the premise that more is better, it seems that it can also be a means of heaping guilt upon someone in the midst of a tough time who is struggling with the very thing I would tell them to do.  Pray more.  Stay more in the Word.  Go to worship more.  Do all those spiritual things more.  

 

The reason I say it can be a means of heaping guilt is that when going through really tough times in our lives, everything about our lives is disrupted.  Sleep patterns are disrupted.  Work schedules end up in disarray.  Important relationships become strained.  Weariness is overwhelming.  Stress and tension pulls one way and then another.  When people are going through the really dark and hard places of life, doing things as they have normally been done can be a daunting and impossible task. No one needs to feel guilty about not being able to maintain a pattern of spiritual disciplines when going through hard times and certainly none of us need to heap guilt upon a sufferer by implying that they would do better if they would only get back to that old pattern of spending more time in their devotional life. 

What we can do is to pray for those who are struggling.  A lesson I learned a long time ago is that there are times when the darkness is so thick that I simply cannot pray as I would choose to pray.  In those hard moments, I need to have others who are praying for me.  Having learned this years ago, I have often told folks who are struggling that I would pray for them until they come to a time when once again they can pray for themselves.  Some folks can cook and take meals to those struggling, some may send cards to encourage them, but all of us can pray for them.  So, get at it.