Living on a Prayer

“I pray for your success.”

“Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.” 

“And what, pray tell, do you mean?”

Okay, so that third one isn’t as common anymore, but we’ve all heard phrases like these. Here in America, where going to church used to be a common occurrence, saying that you’re “praying” for something has worked its way into our vernacular, even though not many people actually do it nowadays.

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, pray means “to entreat or implore, to make a request in a humble manner, and to address God or a god with adoration, confession, supplication, and thanksgiving.” Most times, people pray when life goes through a rough patch or when they need something. I’m sure most of you started hearing Bon Jovi’s famous song when you read this editorial’s title. Living on a Prayer describes two couples going through hard times and how they’ve got to tough things out. As long as they have each other, hope and prayer are all they need to make it.

As a Christian, I know that prayers and requests of that sort are directed to God. He tends to answer these petitions in three ways: Yes, No, or Wait. We all expect that Yes to come, but God is not Santa Claus or a magic genie. He is a person who makes choices just like we do. He has every right to reject a request. I usually get this when I start praying, “God, please let the 49ers win tonight.”

The most confusing answer we receive is Wait. Is God telling me No, or is He just not listening? Usually, when God tells us to wait, it’s because He’s got something better in mind. However, because His timetable doesn’t always line up with ours, we often feel frustrated and impatient.

The summer before my senior year of high school, I took a college-hopping trip with a friend. One of the places we visited was Azusa Pacific University. The moment I set foot on campus, I felt at home. The other places we visited felt stifling in comparison. I knew that this was where I wanted to go. I sent my application to APU first, and before I put out any others, APU mailed me an acceptance letter. I thought for sure that was where I was going.

Alas, during the spring of senior year, my parents took me to Olive Garden and broke the news: we didn’t have enough money to send me down to APU (how dare you butter me up with my beloved shrimp alfredo…). My only option was to go to community college.

As it turns out, God wasn’t telling me No, but Wait. I gleaned some helpful things during my two years at community college. That was when I learned how to use public transit. I got most of my general education units completed for a very affordable price. I went to a writers’ conference during spring break that I couldn’t have attended if I was down in LA, and the things I learned there have been instrumental in developing my skills as a writer.

I also determined what to major in while I was at community college. One of my favorite classes there was Shotokan Karate. The teacher, Sensei Larson, also taught a Life and Career Planning class. I enrolled in that one, too, since I was already familiar with the teacher. One of our assignments was a skill and personality test that gave us a list of potential careers that fit our answers. On my result sheet, the second suggestion on the list was Cameraman. I figured, “Well, I had fun making movies for class projects, and APU has a film program. Let’s try that!”

I had kept in contact with my admissions officer at APU. She helped me figure which classes I could take that would transfer over and look into scholarships to help ease the financial burden. Although it took two years longer than I had originally planned, I got there, and I was all the more prepared. Two and a half years later, I had a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Cinematic Arts Production and was starting my film career. The people I met when I transferred in had become irreplaceable friends, some of which helped me get independent film gigs. If I had gone earlier than I did, all those opportunities and relationships would have never come.

Now, I hate to break it to Bon Jovi, but “living on a prayer” doesn’t have to happen only when times are tough, nor is it only when you’re asking for something. We can pray when times are good, too. Even something as simple as “Thanks for opening that parking space, God” can work. During my brief stint here on planet Earth, I’ve come to learn two things about prayer. One: Prayer is a Conversation. Two: Prayer is Powerful.

Most people who do pray tend to do so either when they need something or if they’re blessing a meal. I, however, tend to pray like Tevye. For those who don’t know, Tevye was a character from Sholem Aleichem’s Yiddish short stories. You’d probably recognize him best as the main character in the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Tevye, a devout Jew, prayed like he spoke to his best friend, a friend who just happened to be the king. Casual, yet respectful. He’d be out on his dairy delivery runs, look up, and just talk. “God, look at my daughters. They need good husbands.” “God, why must the lawmen treat us so?” “God, if it doesn’t mess things up too much, could you grant me a bit more money? Please?” While he had requests sprinkled in, Tevye conversed with God.

The thing that people tend to forget is that a conversation is a two-way street. It requires both speaking and listening. Those who treat God like a genie talk and talk and talk, but never stop to hear what His reply is. You need to give God a chance to speak. He may not say what you like, but it’s what you need to hear.

Now, don’t misunderstand. I’m not discouraging you from asking God for things. Mountains move when you ask God for help. I know for a fact that there are many things that are out of my control. Just look at the news, covering the chaos that happened not even a week into January 2021. I doubt there’s much that I, a small time author, can really do about those situations. How comforting it is to know that you can go to the God who sustains the universe and ask Him to fix something, no matter how small.

Now, those points are well and good, Tim, but how are you going to best drive them home?

Well, allow me to do so in the way I best know how: through a story. A true story.

A couple of years back, I was called out to a job for the Netflix show The OA. The director for that particular episode wanted to film in this middle-of-nowhere location in the woods. It was a lovely spot, but, as you can see from the picture for the post, the only way to it was across a small river. Transporting cameras, gear, and actors through water would not go well. That’s where my team of stage riggers came in. We had to build a temporary bridge across a shallow part of the river so that people could stay dry. We were to take one day to set up, let the crew do their filming, then come back the next week to tear it down. Setup would take a full day, teardown would take half. Pretty simple job.

One of the guys, John, was late coming in for setup. Turned out, a cop pulled him over on his way in and, for some reason, impounded his motorcycle. He was lucky the officer gave him a ride to the job site despite confiscating his vehicle. I felt bad for John, so I said a quick, quiet prayer. “God, could you help John out? It’s a really sucky situation he’s in.”

At the end of the day, as we were getting ready to go home, John started asking around if anyone could give him a ride. I lived in the direction he was heading, but I was exhausted. I just wanted to go home and rest, and since this job was about an hour’s drive away, I wanted to head home right away. I waited to see if anyone else was going to offer to take him.

However, it wasn’t one of the other guys I heard speak, but God. It wasn’t an audible conversation, but one in the heart. I’ve had moments like this before, but this one stuck out. Here’s pretty much how it went:

Tim.
Yeah?
Remember that verse in James you read the other day? The one that says, “If you see your brother in need but say, ‘Good luck, I wish you well,’ without doing anything, it does nothing?”
…Yeah…?
You’ve got a car, right?
…*sigh*…Hey, John. You need a ride?

As you can see, I made a request. I asked God to help John out of his predicament. What I didn’t expect was for Him to use me to do it. That wouldn’t have happened if I just prayed the prayer and left it at that. I had to listen to and for the reply. Prayer is an ongoing conversation that doesn’t just happen when you want it to.

Great illustration of how prayer’s a conversation, Tim, but what about the Powerful point?

Well, buckle up, buttercup. Story’s not done yet.

As the days went by, I found my thoughts returning to John’s situation. I decided to keep praying for him, especially since trying to get a vehicle back from being impounded can take months, if not longer.

On the day we had to go back for teardown, John called me, asking if I could pick him up and bring him to the worksite. Having learned my lesson from the week before, I agreed. John then asked me if, after work was done, I would be willing to give him a lift to the DMV. For reasons he could not explain, everything he needed to get his motorcycle back was falling into place faster than he anticipated. If things went well, he could get his bike back that same day.

We wrapped up work and headed to the DMV. A couple of hours later (I didn’t mind waiting, since it gave me time to write), John returned with good news. All that was left was to drive to the impound lot and get the motorcycle back.

The guard at the lot was cordial when we arrived. He even shared a story about how he had just gotten off suspension because he accidentally allowed someone to pick up their vehicle when they delivered falsified documents.

When it got to the point where the guard needed the physical paperwork, John got nervous. He had not been given all the physical papers. He had the emails to prove that he had met all the requirements, but that wasn’t what the guard was asking for. He tried to explain as best he could, but things weren’t looking in his favor. You could read it in his face. After the story of how he got suspended, there was no chance the guard would be okay with this.

Then, much to John’s surprise, and, admittedly, to mine, as well, the guard asked to see the emails from his phone. John complied. After a brief minute of reading, the guard said, “Eh, this’ll do. Come get your bike.”

Prayer is a conversation. Prayer is powerful. You don’t need to wait until life gets bad to pray. In fact, it shouldn’t be your last resort when things go awry. Make it your first resort. I assure you, the results will blow your mind.