Rescue or Direction?

The other day as I was watching an episode of The Deadliest Catch, Sig Hanson began to pray.

Sig is the captain of the Northwestern: a notoriously successful crab boat in the Bering Sea fishery. He, like every captain on this massively successful reality show, is pretty salty. The show is a consistent bleeping of all manner of profanity wielded by these seasoned warriors of the sea. You may wonder why I watch it. I think it’s simple. I like it. There is something about the struggle these men go through to harvest the substantial riches attached to crab fishing. But that is a thought for another day.

Back to Sig Hanson.

He prayed.

Trouble

He had set his crab pots in the northern regions of the fishing grounds and overnight, ice had blown in and covered all his gear. To put that in perspective. Every pot cost about two thousand dollars and he had set one hundred of them into the sea. As he slowly pulled into the ice, the risk is both of damaging the boat and not being able to get to his gear. In a word – trouble. Sig was in trouble. As his boat nosed along through the ice Captain Sig said, “Help me, Lord.”

Sig demonstrated what we all know to be true. Everybody prays.

The sharpest of godless philosophies haven’t erased the fact that most earth dwellers call out to God at some point. In the northernmost outposts of human existence, you’ll find people praying. In every nation, tribe, and tongue, prayer endures. Humanity aims prayers at dark ceilings and hopes to be heard. Sometimes grateful prayers for the miracle of life. Sometimes thankfulness for our colorful existence on earth. At other times, anxiously looking for an explanation from the realm beyond the stars for what we feel. There seems to be a way that life was meant to be, and this is not it. We want somebody to take responsibility and explain what it’s all about.  Prayers ring out dissatisfied, “Somebody up there, please help us.”  These prayers flow from different felt needs, but they have one thing in common: they are all distant from God. This is the problem – We are trying to work out our wounds, but in our felt experience of prayer, God seems far away.

 Jesus Prayer

Jesus paints a different picture. With him, prayer is personal.  God is close, and the experience of prayer is intimate. He calls God “Father.”  He draws direct lines between his prayers and his actions. He emerges from time spent alone with God able to see what God wanted to do in his immediate surroundings. Then he invites us to do the same.

Jesus did not say, “Don’t try to do what I’ve been doing; it’s way out of your league. Just write down what I’ve said and done and talk about it for a few thousand years. I’ll eventually come back.”

No, instead, he invites me to join him, to do what he did, aim high, pray always, and join heaven’s business. Just like on earth, where a thousand strands of shared experience define the strength of a relationship, God invites me to himself. Prayer is the front door to a personal encounter with him, not once or twice, but as the consistent tone and experience of my life. It is a learn-by-doing endeavor. We ask and keep asking. We seek till we wear out a path. We knock, but not politely. We pound on heaven’s door with a fist—the fist of prayer.

Reactive

When the ice of life comes to cover your gear, you should pray. It doesn’t require a membership fee or a secret handshake. When you are in trouble call out to God. The problem often comes when the trouble has passed. We easily drift back into self-reliance and that produces indifference toward heaven. We get casual and then careless with God. This is a sign-up sheet for more trouble and not recommended operating procedure for a good life.

Proactive

Better by far, is a life that has learned how to be proactive. The great privilege of prayer is that we are invited to process life before the breakdowns occur. Proactive conversations are almost always superior to reactive ones. Rather than just reacting to problems, we can learn to address the core issues that cause the problems. Rather than trying to quell desperation, we stockpile peace. Rather than being undone by my unmet expectations, we shape our desires around God’s Kingdom. Proactive prayer is the path for keeping trouble from developing into a full-on breakdown. It is the way for processing problems before a life avalanche occurs.

Like Captain Sig, ice will descend upon everyone’s gear at some point in life. When it does, we should follow his example. Pray. This is rescue.

But better is the one who has enough humility to ask God before setting their gear in the water. This is direction.