A prophecy against the Valley of Vision: What troubles you now, that you have all gone up on the roofs … Isaiah 22:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 13, 2017): Isaiah 22

I love Mahatma Gandhi’s thoughts about prayer. According to Gandhi, “Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” It is one of my complaints about the prayer of the contemporary Christian Church. Sometimes I think we talk too much and listen too little during our prayer times. And often, at least for me, there are no words that will adequately describe the longing of my soul. Yet, I am sure that God understands that longing.

Some years ago, the church I pastored had a Saturday night tradition - a number of us came to the church for a time of prayer. We didn’t speak or sing. We just wandered through the church praying. We prayed for the services the next day. I loved to walk up and down the rows of seats, praying for the various people that I knew often sat in the seats that I was passing (we are such creatures of habit in church, often seated in the same places from week to week.) I prayed as I walked through the church, I prayed kneeling at the altar, and even lying prostrate in the aisles of the sanctuary.

But one of my favorite places to pray was up on the roof of the church. By the baptistery in the church, there was a fixed latter that went up to a door that led out onto the roof. On a nice evening, it was a great place to go and listen. No one else from the prayer group ever came up on the roof, and I would just sit and look down over the neighborhood that sprawled out around the church. And it was in those moments that the longing of my soul seemed to reach out for God.

Jerusalem was a city on a hill. But it was also a city surrounded by higher hills. The result was the illusion that Jerusalem existed in a valley – and because the city was the religious and cultural center of Judah, it was often referred to as the Valley of Vision. And in a time of stress, the people in the Valley of Vision would take to the rooftops of the buildings to pray. The idea was that up on the roofs; they were closer to God – and there, in times of confusion, their souls could reach out to God. There, they could make their longing known to God. Apparently, God had noticed their behavior, and he was aware that they, up on their roofs, were distressed.

Maybe, in the midst of our confusion, it is time for us to take to our roofs – or any other place where we can allow the longing of our souls to find God. There is no need for words in those private places, just a heart that is open and ears that are listening. And God will respond to the longing of our soul, as we recognize that we are weak, but he is strong.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 23