Agony and Joy

 Every four years I indulge in my sports fest, on the couch, watching the Olympic games.  It’s compelling viewing as the human drama unfolds – the agony and joy, the culmination of years of hard work, grit, determination, tears and dreams.  I love the underdog stories, the triumph and even the despair when the dream crumbles. No wonder the Olympics are such a powerful metaphor. Coinciding with this couch-spectator feast, to my amazement, delight and then ouch, was the devotional in Lectio 365 by Izwe Nkosi I was reading.  I quote;

Romans 15:30-33  I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favourably received by the Lord’s people there, so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. The God of peace be with you all. 

‘Strive with me in prayer’, Paul writes. In Greek, agonizomai – literally, ‘agonize’ with me. It is a word borrowed from the world of athletics; describing the discipline of an Olympic athlete determined to win a race. ‘Come and train in the prayer-gym with me’ Paul says, ‘And then, when we have finished this race together, I’ll come and see you; we can celebrate victory, and I will rest with you.’

Am I a prayer athlete or a spectator?   Lord, teach me to strive in prayer, to agonise well. But also to make time to celebrate and rest well with You.

A prayer athlete? Joining Paul in the prayer-gym!!!  The images of athletes agonising, working out, straining, striving, pushing through pain exploded in my mind as I read.

Seeking to accomplish “gold”; seeking to see God’s kingdom come in our families, our communities, in our work requires the same effort, energy and dedication an athlete brings to their sport.  This is the hard work of prayer.  Going to the “gym” day after day, week after week, agonising, struggling, visualising the outcome, for what?  For the joy of seeing God break in, to see transformation, to see healing and peace come.  Like the Olympic athletes, we are captured by a vision of what could be, should be, must be and like them, despite setbacks we get back in to the gym and try again. I cannot afford to be a prayer spectator if I want to see true change.

Paul requested others to join him in the prayer-gym, in the struggle of prayer.  No athlete gets to the Olympics by themselves – it takes a team of people to work with them, for them and struggle alongside them to achieve success. Your prayer, my prayer for others takes us in the prayer-gym on their behalf. The joy of the outcome is our joy too.

Paul’s dream was to get to Rome. His prayer request to be kept safe from the unbelievers in Jerusalem wasn’t answered in the way he perhaps hoped, but it didn’t deter him. In prison, in chains, he worked out in the prayer-gym. Despite the opposition and hardship, he finally reached Rome, where he celebrated together with the Roman Christians.

Agony and joy go together for the prayer athlete.  But wait, there’s more.  I quote again;

…as I join the struggle as a prayer-athlete, Paul suggests that I may know, not just the peace of God, but the God of peace himself.  

Unlike the Olympic athletes, prayer athletes are guaranteed “gold” – eternal gold and the deep joy of knowing God Himself.

Teach me to persevere in prayer, to ‘run to win’. I yield myself to the struggle of an athlete with a glorious race in front of me!