The Traffic Jam of Prayer Life

With the body comfortably sunken into the leather seat in complete relaxation, the hand steering the vehicle towards its destination in the quiet of the night, the acceleration showcasing the smoothness of the engine, anyone who loves to drive will be absorbed by the speed and control of the car, especially when the roads are scarcely littered by just a few other vehicles.

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Yet, the same route home that I take almost every evening is not always so easy to drive along and is certainly rather congested at the time I am heading home. On rainy days, the vehicle may just be moving a metre or two every 10 seconds. It is stressful to drive in such conditions. More and more signposts are springing up to warn us of road accidents and traffic jams ahead precisely because we really do not like being held up, nor do we like moving slowly, especially in short, occasional spurts.


We like things moving smoothly and quickly. And isn't this the way we expect our prayer life to be too? Always smooth-sailing, always being able to feel the presence of God so that we can be assured He is there listening to what we have to say to Him? We want our prayers to travel quickly to the ears of God and that He, too, respond quickly and in our favour.


But our journey in prayer is not always that easy. In fact, it is a big struggle more often than not. And we become impatient with the journey, too eager to arrive at our destination without further delay. Perhaps, in a traffic jam, the best thing to do is to wait patiently for the next possible movement, be it half a metre or ten, in the acceptance that since we have chosen this road to travel on at this particular time of the day, then we would expect to be caught in a jam. Even if a jam occurred in an unexpected time and place, can we truly say it was unexpected? We cannot use any road for that matter and expect it to always be jam-free. By taking up this approach, rather than resenting the jam and allowing it to grow a frustration within our hearts, we may be able to tide through the jam with greater ease and lesser tension.


Since we have chosen to open our hearts and minds to God in prayer, thus, allowing Him to labour within us, then we have to also accept that our prayer life will inevitably meet occasions of blockages that slow us down - doubts, fears, dryness. We enjoy moments of feeling the consolation of God, when we can praise Him and trust in Him so effortlessly with the help of His graces. But in the face of desolation, when prayer becomes dry, when we cannot seem to feel God close to us, perhaps, like in a traffic jam, the best way is to accept this as a part of the spiritual journey and await patiently for the next possible movement, when God will lead us and take us to the next station, as He wills, when He wills. Just as a traffic jam is never permanent, so it is too with our prayer life. Trust in the Lord who knows what He is doing in us.


11 Jan 2012 Wednesday
11.32pm