Lenten Meditation III: Pray Like You Sweat (part 1)
I have been thinking about the life of Moses a lot lately.
It seems that anywhere he was, he brought it.
When Pharaoh pleaded with Moses to ask God to stop the hailstorm, Moses said he would lift his hands unto the Lord to make the thunder and hail cease so Pharoah would know just who God is.
He let out a frantic prayer as his enemies pressed him and the Isrealites nearly into the Red Sea.
Moses had to keep his hands lifted up as he prayed otherwise the Amalekites would triumph over the Isrealites.
The physicality of his prayer life was inspiring.
Getting time with God can feel like a difficult climb. You begin moving, your feet sinking into sand as your legs heave around rock. As you reach for something firm to hold onto, the fog starts to roll in.
This is how Moses must have felt on his way up Mt. Sinai. Prayer was never easy for Moses. For Moses, prayer required action — the physicality of his body — and he was never afraid to go there with it. From the time he was called through the encounter with the burning bush, he stood barefoot on holy ground. He clasped the tail of a snake for it to become his staff again and placed his hand in his cloak to see it whithered then healthy again. He went there with his body because of God.
The beautiful thing about this practice of yoga — this discipline of asana and pranayama — is that we can bring it just as Moses did. Bare feet, hands raised, breath and revolutionary intention. We can go to the place where prayer and sweat become one to move the hand of the Creator of the universe.
Nothing worthwhile is ever meant to be easy. Go there. Pray like you sweat.
(Listen below to Rise by Josh Garrels.)
