"Wake Up! Wake Up!"

(Please read Isaiah 55:1-9)
Lectionary Lent 3-C

It wasn’t because I was struggling for thoughts yesterday that I didn’t write. There were thoughts and words but they were for others. There was a certainty in what was to be shared even in the uncertainty of who would receive and welcome the words. By the end of the evening, I knew some of the why’s. How do I explain that yesterday was an unexplainable Monday morning when the words "Wake up and pray" woke me up? Usually, God speaks to us through our quiet prayer and devotional times, in our worship, in our times of praise or in our moments of sorrow. But in our sleeping? At 1:30 a.m.? "Wake Up! Wake Up!" The request almost shook me awake. I was to wake up and pray. Why? I had no clue! Wake up and pray for what? And, if I didn’t know the "why’s", then WHY wake me up? What is the purpose in it all anyway?

What are we to do when God says, "Wake up and pray"? We are to pray. It’s as simple as that. My response wasn’t without questions, I’m afraid. "Gracious and loving God, why? Why would you have me up so early? So wide awake? For an hour, I have said words of ‘Sleep’ but your single word ‘Pray’ has kept me awake. And so I will pray, if that is the reason why. Why you woke me so abruptly. Why you placed names before me and yet left some unnamed. And so (yawn) I will pray, not knowing the why’s."

Too often, we find ourselves thrown into the same mix with the sleeping disciples. The time of Lent always calls this to our attention as we reread the accounts of the night of Jesus’ betrayal. Jesus says, "Stay here and keep watch", and we fall asleep. He says, "Are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?" He comes back and finds us sleeping on the job again! And just as with Peter, James and John, we don’t really know what to say to Jesus. "Wake up and pray!" Just maybe the words that awakened me have already been said to the sleeping disciples. "Enough! Rise! Let us go!"

There is something mysteriously beautiful when God wakes us to pray for another. I’m not sure that the importance and sweetness of that moment is to be found in the words of the prayer itself. "Wake up. Wake up and pray", in essence, is God moving us from self-centered prayers to loving others as Jesus loves. God is asking us to place our hearts on the line for another. God nudges us, even shakes us and says, "Wake up and be an encourager today. Wake up and undergird your pastors in prayer. Wake up and pray fervently for your church. Wake up and pray for one who is broken and angry and struggling. There is no need to know the why’s. Just be faithful. Wake Up! Wake up and be faithful!" And maybe, just maybe you will hear something else. "You have done as I have asked. Now rest assured that I have always known the names and needs of my children."

Holy God … You have reminded us over and over again that your thoughts are not ours; neither are your ways our ways. Early morning wake-up calls to pray are certainly not our ways! But you have your purpose, don't you? There are those known only to you who are in need of such early morning prayers. As we yawn and wipe our eyes, awaken our hearts to faithfulness. Awaken our hearts to response. Awaken our hearts to hear your wake-up calls. Thank you, O God, for loving us so much as to wake up others to pray for us when we ourselves struggle for words. Amen.

anna