When the Bottom Drops Out

Well, now, land sakes alive, butterbean, you’ve gotta go on an’ pull up a real comfy rocker over here and be ‘a-settlin’ yourself in like a lil’ ol’ sleepy barn cat on a warm porch rail ‘cause we’re about to do some wanderin’ into a patch of Scripture that’ll be ‘a-swatin’ you awake and ‘a-huggin’ you all at the same time.

In James 5:13-15, we git asked if any of us are ‘a-sufferin’. Around here that covers jes’ ‘bout everything from stubbin’ your toe on the coffee table to ‘a-feelin’ like life done jus’ run you over like a runaway hog on roller skates. And what does James say to do? Pray. Not panic. Not pout. Not call your cousin Earl who always gives advice that sounds like it came from a raccoon with a head cold. Doggone it. Pray. We gotta pray!

Jesus Himself done showed us how it is done. When the weight of the world was a‑pressin’ down on Him in Gethsemane, He didn’t go a‑lookin’ for a distraction. He went a‑prayin’. He slipped away to talk to His Father the way a tired ol’ farmer slips into the barn to breathe for a minute and be ‘a-lettin’ the cows listen to his troubles. Over and over in Scripture, Jesus steps plum away to do some prayin’. If the Son of God needed prayer, buttercup, I reckon we sho’-nuff’ do, too.

But when bad trouble hits, we tend to act like some of them ol’ startled chickens. We flap. We fuss. We blame. We stew. The ol’ devil, why, he done loves that ‘cause it done keeps us from the one thing that actually works. Prayer goes to puttin’ that there heavy lifting right on into God’s hands. It reminds us that we are not a‑standin’ out here alone like a lost goat on a hillside. Prayer steadies us. It strengthens us. It keeps us from tryin’ to fix everything with our own two hands, which, let’s be real honest here, usually ends with us ‘a-bein’ all tangled up like fishing line done caught up in a blackberry bush.

James says if you are ‘a-sufferin’, pray. If you are happy, sing. If you are sick, call the elders and be prayin’ some more. Prayer is not the last resort. It is the first step, the middle step, and the step after that.

Father, be ‘a-teachin’ us to pray first, pray often, and pray honest. Help us bring our troubles, our joys, our sickness, and our sins straight to You. Be ‘a-givin’ us the grace to trust You with the things we cannot carry. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Now go on out there into this here ol’ world, junebug, and be ‘a-rememberin’ that when this here life starts a‑shakin’ you like a squirrel in a pecan tree, prayer is gonna be your lifeline. Grab it real tight, be ‘a-holdin’ on to it, and don’t let be ‘a-lettin’ it go. Gosh, gee, and oh, my! That there privilege of prayin’ is the way we talk to the Almighty God of the Universe, Who really is ‘a-wantin’ to talk to us!

With joy,

Gwen