I forget passwords quite often.  There are just too many websites, cards, and accounts requiring passwords and some are quite picky about what kinds of passwords you can have (capital letters, numbers, special characters, etc.)  My work email requires me to change my password quite often and won’t let me repeat old ones.  It’s quite a challenge trying to think of new variations of familiar phrases.

So I sheepishly click on that link of shame, “Forgot your password?” and go through the tedious process of resetting my password.

But sometimes it’s not so easy.  Bank accounts or other secure data require more hoops to jump through, and I wonder what I was thinking when I chose a security question that has at least a dozen possible answers (my greatest moment: one security question simply said “I am” – “vague and forgetful” was not the answer).

Ah, the good old days when the only password we needed to know was “please.”

“Please” got us through many cheeky requests, siblings’ doors, and family dinners as children.  “Please” was the magic word that moved mountains – or at least, the reluctant parent into getting a pet.

Maybe that’s why we use it so much in prayer. “Please be with us today… please bless the food… please heal this illness.”  We use it like a password to answered prayers; If only we could phrase it correctly, we will access that account in heaven.

But the irony is that the word has been misused and overused so that it is also just tacked on in the beginning of phrases in prayer as space holders.   And rather than adding elements of sincerity and humility, the word just denotes another thoughtless repetition rather than a prayer.

An interesting book Debt: the First 5,000 Years analyzes the usage of “please” and “thank you” in society and comments that those words reflect the “democratization of what was once a habit of feudal deference: the insistence on treating absolutely everyone the way that one used only to have to treat a lord or similar hierarchical superior” (Graeber, p 123).  In other words, the original literal meaning of “please” was “you are under no obligation to do this.”  However, “etiquette largely consists of the exchange of polite fictions… by attaching the word ‘please,’ you are saying that it is not an order. But, in fact, it is” (Graeber, p. 124).

Have our prayers been reduced to formalities that expect answers if expressed with passwords like “please” and “thank you”?   Do we see God as an equal who should respect our rules of etiquette?

What would happen if we self-imposed a temporary ban on the words “please” and “thank you” in our prayers and instead talked to God with genuine desire to build an authentic, transparent, intimate relationship with Him?

What would our prayers sound like then?

I know mine would suddenly focus less on what I want and wanted and more on who I am and He is – and who we are together.  Maybe something like, “Today, I was really impatient and judgmental.  I’m so grateful You don’t treat me the way I sometimes I treat others. How do you love so patiently?   How can I be more like You?”

Perhaps as we truly open up to God as to a friend, the trite, polite “Hi, how are you? I’m fine, thanks, and you? ” talk common with acquaintances would be replaced with the honest, heart-felt, run-on-sentence-y conversations where silences, emotional outbursts, and laughter are acceptable.

Then perhaps when we finally do say, “please,” it will be cried out in hunger for righteousness.  When we finally say, “thank you,” it will be whispered in awe of His grace.

So the forgotten meaning can be retrieved.

My father-in-law is here!  He made the long trek from Seattle, WA, USA and has finally lied down to rest after a tedious journey and a hot day.  I remember making that trip myself 18 months ago and am not looking forward to making it again in May, especially with a one-year-old in tow.

But when I asked my father-in-law about the trip and commented on how tired he must be, this is what he said: “Because I was coming to see my son, daughter-in-law and grandson, I didn’t notice anything.  I was just so happy.”

I can just imagine him, at the start of the journey, packing his bags and thinking of meeting his grandson for the first time.  Mid-flight, he was probably picturing the reunion with his son.  As he waited in line at customs maybe he was looking forward to getting to know his daughter-in-law better for the next 9 months.

The journey, however long, can be packed with hope.

Have you seen Shawshank Redemption?  One of the motifs in the film is hope. The protagonist, Andy, says to his fellow inmate friend: “Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”  Without hope, even freedom loses meaning.  At the end of the film (spoiler alert!), Red realizes the truth of the power of hope as he travels in search of his friend: “I find I’m so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it’s the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”

Have you ever tried searching for a key word online?  Type “hope” on Biblegateway.com and you’ll find 6 pages of results.  Here are a few of my favorites:

“If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.  I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope.  My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning – Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.  O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (Psalm 130).

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

“This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”  The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.  It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentaions 3:21-26).

 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:1-8).

” For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us . . . For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (Romans 8:18-25).

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:17-19).

“For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?” (1 Thessalonians 2:19).

“The hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago” (Titus 1:2).

What or who is your hope? 

If your journey has become mundane, meaningless, or muddled, try hope.

I hope my father-in-law has a good experience living with us in Australia.  I hope to see my family and friends in May.  I hope our church in the city grows by the grace of God.  I hope Micah grows up to be like his Dad. I hope.

I am getting to know my internet provider’s customer representatives by name.

Not because I am trying to make new friends, mind you.  I have been calling almost every day for the past week trying to get internet set up at our new place.

After being transferred multiple times and being on the phone for hours, I am beginning to recognize certain voices and names.  Oh, hello again, Christy.  Yes, I’ll hold…

And so I’ve been holding my breath for over a week now waiting for my internet light to flash green.

In the meantime, we’ve been tethering our phones and anxiously watching our usage meter get precariously close to our monthly limit.  I’ve been hunting for McDonalds and other cafes with free wi-fi.

Obviously, we’ve been frustrated.

But oddly, we’ve also been creative.

Roy and I swap our phones when one of us is going out and the other staying in (Roy’s phone tethers better than mine).  I’m using my paper Bible more than Biblegateway (Did you know that most Bibles have a concordance in the back? It’s no Google, but hey, it helps).  I type this blog on Word and then upload it quickly once I connect to the precious internet.  I’m calling people instead of emailing them.

Being disconnected requires searching for ways to connect in alternative ways.

I think we need the same creativity and effort to connect with God.  Not because He is unwilling to draw near, but because we have limited vision and hearing.  The communication lines are often broken on our end.  There are many distractions (not just without, but within, in our own minds), and the noise pollution complicates what could be such a simple conversation with our Friend.

So for those of us who need that re-connection this week, here are some tips:

• Pray out loud – preferably, in a quiet place away from people who will stare at you.  Something about saying it out loud helps us focus on what we’re saying.
• Write it down – for kinesthetic learners like myself, writing a prayer journal helps to better express our thoughts
• Try the ACTS model of prayer:
  • Adoration – praise God for who He is (ex: You are a merciful God!)
  • Confession – ask Him for forgiveness (ex: I was grumpy with the internet provider)
  • Thanksgiving – thank Him for specific things (ex: Thank you that I have this new home and that you’ve filled my life with such abundance that the worst problem right now is the lack of high-speed internet).
  • Supplication – ask God for our daily needs and for others (ex: Please watch over the victims of the bushfires).
• Try one of the 11 Different Ways to Pray shared by PMC which includes prayer walking, group prayer, etc.
• Pray with someone – sharing prayer requests and praying together can help us feel better connected with God.
• Have a special designated time or place for prayer.  Set your phone alarm or have a special quiet spot in the park or garden in your neighborhood.

What have you tried and liked?

Who likes moving?  Maybe you like the packing, unpacking, and cleaning up involved.  I for one am not a fan.  Having moved over 20 times (twice intercontinentally), I know first-hand how exhausting moving can be.

Each time, I moan to myself as I kick the Everest of boxes, “Why do I have so much stuff?!”

Really, why do we accrue so many things?  Why do we have three shirts that look almost identical in color and style, two copies of the same book, and a dozen mugs that never get used?

Whatever happened to simplicity?

It’s not just in material things.  Our time gets cluttered with items that demand or distract our attention.  Our minds are littered with all kinds of information, thoughts, and ideas. Our lives feel like a Jackie Chan movie, incessantly moving, hurrying, and fighting whatever real or imaginary foes (deadlines, bills, tempers, illnesses, hormones, diets, rush hour traffic, etc).

To the storm in our lives, Jesus says, “Peace!  Be still” (Mark 4:39, NIV).  He calls us to come aside and pray awhile.  To focus our minds on Him and silence the buzzing of sounds and conversations.  To listen for that still, small voice that reminds us that yes, not only are we pilgrims whose lives are not about stuff, but our journey also involves sharing the source of peace with others.  But we can’t share what we don’t have.

So I am closing my eyes to the chaos around me.  I am silencing my phone.  I am opening my paper Bible and reading Psalm 46: “…. Be still, and know that I am God….The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

If God sheltered Jacob when he ran away from home (Genesis 28:10-22), how much more will He shelter us from the pursuit of anxiety and stress?

He bids us, “Come away with me to a quiet place and rest awhile…” (Mark 6:31).