by James Brown

Created on: December 29, 2008

We have all had situations like this in our lives. We might be driving to work, or taking our kids to school. The sun is shining down upon us, an utterly perfect day. Suddenly at an intersection someone pulls out directly in our path. We scream, "GOD HELP ME!", no "Heavenly Father I come to you in prayer", no formalities, no fluff or frill. We need help and we need it now! So we shoot our arrow hoping that it somehow hits the mark swiftly.

Over my years as a minister I have heard, and said, a lot of prayers. It seems no matter which Church I might be at there was always someone there who has a distinct talent of delivering the most eloquent prayers. We all have a tendency to try to talk to God in this form. Almost as if God cares what the prayer sounds like. Or maybe God might say or think,"That was a pretty prayer, with a prayer that pretty I must answer it!"

But when a situation occurs when we really need God, we suddenly could care less what the prayer sounds like. We instead just blurt out what we need or in some cases, want from God. I remember as a child, I was playing in my parents bed room. A place I was not supposed to be. For some reason the escapes my now, I picked up my mothers purse that was sitting by her bed. I did not notice as I picked it up that the strap was laying on the edge of her bed side table, encircling a small blown glass rocking chair, My mothers most prized possession. As I am sure you have guessed by now, the strap pulled the delicate item of the table, sending it to the hard wood floor. It shattered into almost as many pieces as my heart as it hit the floor.

I was crushed, surely my mother would hate me for this! I picked up all the pieces and discarded them. Then I went to my bedroom and crawled under my bed to retrieve my shoe box. In this box was the most valued items that I owned as a 4 year old. I remember a hawks feather I found once, 3 arrowheads, some pretty rocks, a jack knife(pocket knife for the younger generation), and a couple of baseball cards. OH ! and my marbles! I walked as slow as possible to the kitchen where my mother was working. Blubbering and sobbing I approached her, telling her how much I loved her and how sorry I was! When it was all over she would not take my box or it's contents. She told me she was upset about the chair but her main concern was that I was alright.

She was not interested in hearing about my treasures, or that I was sorry, or even that I Loved her. She wanted to know what was wrong. What did I need. She wanted an arrow! In reality, I believe God to be the same way. He does not care how we sound when we speak to him. He only wants to know what we need. He wants an arrow. How do we perform an arrow prayer? Just get to the point.

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