Day 206 - About these prayer strike blogs

 

I didn’t think that when I started this series of blogs that they would become so long-running. I had imagined I might post a few and then return to my normal topics and frequency of blogging. But then again, I imagined that God might attempt to resolve my issues with him.

I am planning to blog on my prayer strike till Christmas (which is day 365) and then, I guess, to return to my usual topics – unless something significant happens.

More broadly, I haven’t been writing on this topic alone. There have been other projects. One of which is a sequel to my piece - The Parable of the Cold Island.

I’ve also been working on a couple of other long-running projects including my first full length novel (Because Destiny and Dynasty is effectively novella length).

Writing, in and of itself, is a comfort to me. I may be on prayer strike, but unlike Hollywood, I am not on a writers’ strike. If I join the writers strike, it might be that the only warning you get is that I will suddenly go quiet.

So, if you can put up with this blog topic until Christmas, I will carry on with these weekly blogs.

I certainly don’t feel I am wearing God down. But, I suppose, when you have access to all known resources, you simply don’t get fatigue of any kind.

Of course, God could stop me writing at any moment, just as he stopped my brother from painting. I wouldn’t put it past him to do that. Everything else he does feels manipulative. I use the word ‘manipulative’ because I have lost count of the many things I have read which seem designed to ‘persuade’ me to pray again. They range from veiled threats through to something close to bribery. I mean, at least I have the self-awareness to admit to being manipulative in giving God the silent treatment...

I should probably pray that the Government repents or something. That would be a pertinent and necessary prayer. It is probably the kindest and most loving thing that anyone could say to our present regime. It would certainly make things a lot better for most of us if that prayer were answered.

So, just a short post this week to update you. I’m still not in significant talks with the Almighty. Prayers have been very, very few and far between. One telling God out loud that I am angry with him (as if he didn’t know). And another re-asserting my prayer requests – or ‘conditions’ as I should call them. In an absolute emergency or personal request from somebody, I would pray again, but as a one-off before resuming the prayer boycott.

The prayer strike continues and I am simply not praying… for as long as it takes to get past prayers answered.

Maybe, one day, I will look back on this sequence of blogs, feel ashamed and believe that I could have done things differently. But I don’t have that foresight right now.