Prayer Is More Than Words

"In order to pray a man must struggle to his last breath." (Sayings of the Desert Fathers)

Words do not come easily in prayer, "LORD, consider my sighing" (Psm. 5.1). Here in the desert the shepherd often takes a view from above. He skylines himself for all eyes to see. No "cleft in the rock" or shadow can hide him. Desert wandering has a way of exposing those who journey. Oh, one tries to blend in, become a part of the landscape and stick to low ground and follow forgotten dry creek beds, but inevitably he tops out somewhere.

Why is it Satan took Jesus to high places, to tempt him with the world, to dare him to leap for his life? Did he feel vulnerable, exposed on those wind-swept heights?Jesus skylined himself against the horizon for us. Jesus preached in public but he prayed in private. My most vulnerable moment is when I am skylined, rising above the plateaus of this desert wilderness. Like Moses, just before he comes down off the mountain and gives the Torah to the people. "Let your words be few," but they expect platitudes and grocery lists. When prayer is more than words. The desert fathers realized this. They understood prayer could be downright painful if it was not being born out of pain. "He sweat great drops of blood." Jesus understood the painfulness of prayer. There is eloquence in being prostrate in some remote desert cavern, one's rock garden of prayer. For there it is about him and we are free to breathe or sob. But here on the plateaus, skylined against the horizon for withering grass and fading flowers to see it's about us. One struggles to find the words and hopes prayer will be enough. Sola Gracia, WHB