If Your Prayers Feel Empty…

Don’t forget who you are praying to.

This past summer, Mazy and I took a little mommy/daughter trip up to the Mackinac Bridge and Mackinaw Island. It’s a trip I’ve been wanting to do for years, but never took the time to do it or always found an excuse. Though to be fair, a few summers ago we planned to make the drive, but it was going to be in the mid-90s and I was pretty certain my heart failure wouldn’t appreciate that commitment.

Mazy had never seen the bridge and I told her we would drive over it at some point. One morning after breakfast, we made our way up the one way road. As we neared the bridge, I can hear and see the excitement rising in Mazy. Before, we had just viewed it from the edge of the shore and even took the ferry boat underneath. The towers stood tall and the traffic loud as we floated underneath, but nothing quite compared to being ON the bridge and driving directly under the towers.

I handed Mazy my phone, as she took picture after picture, trying to capture the monstrosity of these things. The closer we to got, the mightier they felt. Hence the reason why this bridge is often nicknamed “The Mighty Mac”.

Isn’t this how it is with God too? The closer we are to him, the mightier he feels.

Our God is mightier than we even comprehend. Our God can do anything about EVERYTHING. We spend time in prayer, but wonder if he’s really listening? But we forget who we are praying to.

I’ve had periods in my life when my prayers have felt empty, boring, mundane, and maybe even forced. Some prayers we pray because it’s tradition or “just what we do”. Other times we are asked to pray in front of a crowd or with others, and we start sweating at the thought.

But we can’t lose sight of who we are praying to. We don’t need to impress God with our words. All God wants is for us to show up and be with him. He already knows what we need, and so we don’t get a pat on the back if we make our prayers fancy. He already is mighty. He already has all the answers.

Sometimes God answers quickly. Sometimes it’s a “not yet”. And sometimes it’s a no. The answer is up to him. All we need to do is pray to our mighty and sovereign God, trusting that he isn’t purposely trying to hide goodness from us, but just wants us to see his goodness as we trust in his answer.

We can so easily complicate prayer and make it into this big to-do. Now don’t get me wrong, it is a big deal. But it’s a big deal because we have to remember WHO we are praying to – our mighty and sovereign God who desires a relationship with us. Not our prestige. He just wants US.