Time Tunnel Prayers
Back in the 1960s there was a show called The Time Tunnel. It was about a guy who invented a machine that allowed him to go back in time. The problem was that when he entered the machine he never knew what time period he would go back to. He might be standing next to a soldier fighting in the French Revolution. On the next journey he would find himself dancing with a beautiful woman in the 1920s only to have the police raid the party because prohibition was in place. The other problem he faced was trying to come back to the present time. The show made for some exciting adventures in time travel.
Have you ever considered doing time travel in your prayers? Some years ago I decided to occasionally venture back in time through my prayers. Most of us are going way too fast to appreciate what God has done and is doing in our lives. We might think back to a funny situation or something extremely dramatic when gathered with family and friends, but other than that we are focused on the future, not the past.
Time tunnel prayers are not about thinking about the good old days and wishing we could go back. It's about thanking God for showing up in the different seasons of our lives. It gives us an opportunity to reflect deeply on God's blessings and to thank Him for always being there whether we were aware of it or not. You might be thinking, “There are some parts of my life I’d rather not think about, the memories are too painful.” I can definitely relate to that. I have some of my own painful memories to deal with.
When I go through the time tunnel of my mind and revisit those memories I invite God to help me see things from His perspective. There have been some aha moments in those time tunnel visits. For instance, thinking back to what happened, how I felt at the time, how things played out, and ultimately realizing that God was more involved than I thought He was. In this way I'm able to give thanks for the good times and the hard times.
God is eternal. He stands outside of time and is not limited by time the way we are. This means that He can travel through the time tunnels of our minds and heal something that happened last year or decades ago if we invite Him to. God can unlock something from our past that has us stuck or locked into a holding pattern we can’t seem to get out of.
If you want to get creative, take a large blank piece of paper and pin it up on a wall. Draw up a time continuum and write about what was going on in the different time periods of your life. You will be surprised at how your memories will begin to come back to you.
Ephesians 6:18 (NIV) says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Did you catch where it said, all kinds of prayers? Sometimes we can bore ourselves with our prayers. Maybe it’s time to do some time tunnel prayers.
Stay close to Jesus,
Steve