The fifth prayer

According to Anne Lamott, there are 3 essential prayers:  Help. Thanks. Wow.  Glennon Doyle Melton, founder of momastery.com and author of the new book Carry On ,Warrior - adds a 4th prayer, which for the sake of a G-rated audience, I'll paraphrase to "What in the WORLD?"  It's the prayer where you ask God, usually in anger, "What are You thinking?  This makes no sense!"

We're at that prayer right now.

We have tried everything humanly possible to rent our house.  According to the realtor, it's priced right.  We think it's a really nice house in good condition.  It has had over 40 showings, sometimes 3 a day. With 3 kids and and a half-packed house, this is incredibly wearying.  I have kept myself going with the thought that God had a very special family in mind for our house.  Last week, we thought we had finally met that family- Hallelujah! Answered prayer!  Then it went horribly wrong.  So, with ten days to departure, we have not yet rented the house.

But are we actually departing?  With 14 embassies closing, uncomfortably close to our connecting and destination countries (Turkey and Tanzania), and the threat level at high for international travel, we start to wonder.

Really, God?  What in the WORLD?

But then my thoughts turn to 2 Chronicles 20.  A huge army was approaching Israel from all sides and there was nothing humanly possible to be done.  So Jehoshaphat cries this prayer (verse 12):  

"We are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. " 

I think this is the 5th prayer - the prayer where you completely empty yourself of all human illusion and say, "I give up."  It's a prayer which admits our own powerlessness and that you trust God no matter the outcome, "OK, God - you've gotten us this far.  If it's your will that we not rent our house, or that international travel is closed and we don't go...so be it.  You are in control.  Not us."  Hard to do.

However, the answer to Jehoshaphat's "I give up" prayer was awesome.  They didn't even need to fight - God caused confusion among the enemies and they ended up slaughtering one another. God told them "Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem." (verse 17).

I'm hoping for a similar answer to my "I give up" prayer.  After all, Ephesians 3:20 tells us that God can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.  

I'm ready.