Kim Avery Coaching

“I’m Sorry, I Didn’t Quite Get That”

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All is peaceful and serene; the spotlights illuminate the cross at one end of the church.  A group of about 20 of us are seated around the cross.  The course is prepared and silence falls as the leader rests his experienced hands on the lectern and opens in prayer.  He prays gently, “Lord as we gather here in Your name we offer ourselves in worship…”

At that exact moment a mobile phone alarm goes off and amidst embarrassed fumbling a mechanical voice booms across the church: “I’M SORRY, I DIDN’T QUITE GET THAT”  For a split second it just had to be the voice of God asking us to speak up.  It is a little disappointing to realise that a voice operated dialling system is asking the user to repeat the name of the contact.  To his eternal credit, and exercising the gift of discernment, the leader concludes that it probably isn’t a divine utterance and continues his prayer.

Does God Say that To You, Too?

But isn’t that what God does when we pray sometimes?  We pray but either He doesn’t hear, or maybe He pretends not to hear.  What’s happening here?  What can we do?  Well, here are some possible answers.

  • Maybe we could shout louder?  But no, that won’t work.  Elijah goaded the prophets of Baal with that one (1 Kings 18:27) so it can’t be the solution we are looking for here.
  • Maybe we should ignore the problem and just keep going – and perhaps that’s what we do a lot of the time anyway.  We just carry on praying regardless of whether we know if God is listening to our prayers.
  • Maybe we need to use more religious language; perhaps there aren’t enough “thees” and “thous”.  Or maybe we need to drop in more words like “repentance” and “sin” and “atonement.”   We learnt French through a great audio course before we went on holiday.  There ought to be Prayer Language courses too so God can understand what we’re saying.  But He did say, “And when you pray, do not heap up phrases.” (Matthew 6:7 AMP), so that can’t be the answer.
  • Perhaps another possibility is that God is saying, “You want me to do WHAT?”  He pauses in total shock that we would ask such a thing.  We could change the prayer, but that can’t be right because the Scripture says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”  (Ephesians 3:20).
  • Or maybe the issue is our un-confessed sin.  This is an easier one to deal with because there’s always someone who will help you to remember the sins God has forgotten long ago.  Scripture says, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”  (Psalm 103:12).

But I can’t go on like this, praying into thin air.  I’ll just give up praying at all.  But I need to find someone who can draw out the deep thoughts I have.  Maybe I’ll get a coach instead, someone who can help me find the way forward, who will listen to me and not judge who I am.

Could you say more…?

“Could you say more about that?”

I beg your pardon?

“Say more”

Ah yes, that’s a coaching question isn’t it?  What a client needs to do to hear themselves more clearly.  The question helps them to dig deeper, go beyond the surface issues, focus on the truth they didn’t know they knew.  The invitation creates the space to expand thinking, feeling and discovery.  But isn’t that what God does when we pray?  Perhaps He really does say, “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite get that.”

Like a coach asking a client to say more, He invites us to go deeper in partnership with Him, to dig down to the solid rock of forgotten truth.  Sometimes, after finding again our place in Him we walk away knowing we already had what we asked all along.

How has your experience of prayer shaped your expectations of God’s response?  What would a bigger, closer, or stronger God look like?

Let me know your thoughts here.

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Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified®Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation.Used by permission.(www.Lockman.org)

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