Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
There are so many options! Jesus is talking about the good shepherd, the Psalm is offering the beautiful images of our longing for God, and in Acts the covenant is being opened to the Gentiles. Amid all of that, I can only focus on Peter’s story.
We long for stories. We tell true stories, make-believe stories, true stores that don’t tell us anything worth believing, and make-believe stories that communicate some of the deepest truths there are. Peter is doing the same in Acts, just as Luke is doing by giving us Acts. They are telling stories.
These stories are drawn from memory, particularly Peter’s. Peter is responding to challengers and responds to them with a clear retelling of his prayer life. He has a memory of his time in prayer to lean back on when he is questioned.
Do we? I know that is not always true of me.
Thus, I’m so struck by his storytelling. Because I do not think I could do it very well if our roles were reversed. Sure, my kids ask me most nights to tell them stories, and I read stories, and I play make-believe communal storytelling games like D&D, but can I tell the stories of my prayer life? I can probably only tell the dramatic moments.
God, however, relies on much more than merely the dramatic. Peter experienced an interrupted nap, but Peter was attentive. How can we be more attentive so as to be receptive? When we are receptive, how can we be sure to preserve what the Lord gives us to remember?
When I make big decisions in my life, I want to be able to share with my challengers how I came to my decision in prayer, and not just because it was a whim. Obviously, this implies I am taking my decisions to prayer, but it also means I have a method of remembering my time in prayer.
How do you help ensure your time in prayer preserved so that it may inform you and others in the future? What is a story from your prayer life?
- Spencer Hargadon