How do people in the Bible pray? When we read of people fasting and praying for days on end: what do they say? How do they do it? I find prayer, at least over the last year or so, to be incredibly hard. Basically my prayers are an acknowledgment to God that I need his perspective and welcome him in every area, and I want him to protect and intervene with people I love. I won’t say it makes no difference, because there is an effect. But it’s not emotional, and I can’t imagine doing nothing but praying for days on end–even hours on end. What am I missing?
Another matter: dreamers in the Bible. There are lots of them. Joseph the father of Jesus had some important dreams that were clearly God’s messages to him. Joseph in Genesis and Daniel are both dreamers and interpreters on a larger scale. In some ways they resemble artists, who see visions and interpret symbolic realities. I feel a kinship with them, but am not sure I’m learning all that I should from them. I have dreams too–certain settings I return to again and again in my dreams, but where I’ve never been in reality. Sometimes I have dreams that are without a doubt symbolic, perhaps prophetic. What do I do with this side of myself? What do these biblical dreamers have to say that applies to my small world?
I see a relationship between my frustrations about prayer and my sense of being bloated with dreams. One of these days it will make sense.
