Prayed Up
As I reflected
on/prayed about a topic for today’s Sharingglory post, this question came to
mind: What is the most difficult time of
day for me to abstain from overeating?
Those hours after the evening meal
is finished challenge me most. The
kitchen is cleaned up. I’m finished with the day’s tasks (or I’ve run out of
energy to do anything more). I don’t
know what to do with myself. I don’t
watch much TV or Netflix. I don’t have a
husband to harass or to harass me. What should
I do? It’s too early to go to bed, and I
think, ‘You have time to work on your memoirs,’ or ‘You need to balance your
checkbook; you could listen to that CD
by Richard Rohr on St. Paul’s teaching,’ and I respond, ‘I’m too tired for
that.’ Usually I respond, ‘I don’t feel like it.’ So I wander into the kitchen—dangerous
territory.
I’m not hungry. I’ve just finished eating dinner. I’m bored, or lonely, or sometimes I just plainly
don’t want to stop eating for the day.
After breakfast and lunch, I have another meal to look forward to, but
after dinner several hours loom before I can eat again.
As I write this morning, I think of
Paul’s words: “What I don't understand
about myself is that I decide one way but then I act another, doing things I
absolutely despise” (Rom. 7:15, MSG). I
relate to Paul. I have decided I want to
eat according to my God-given appestat—what my body needs, when my body needs
it and how much my body needs. However,
too often I eat what my body doesn’t need, when it doesn’t need fueling, and
more than it needs.
And
those evenings happen when I ignore my God-given appestat and those few seconds
God gives me to listen to that still, small Voice within my spirit, and I
overeat, often ending up with a bloated belly and miserable,.
Jesus
set an example for me and for you. When he
was challenged, he prayed. He went away
by himself. “Rising very
early before down, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed”
(Mark 1:35,
New American Bible).
He went to the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion
(Mark 14:36).
Both
Paul and Jesus give me the solution to the challenge I often face in the
evening hours. It’s not will power I
need, but grace, the power of the Holy Spirit.
I need to pray and to trust. This
morning I also realize, I need to be “prayed up” for challenging times. I need to ask for strength ahead of time, to
surrender myself to the Holy Spirit in the morning, preparing myself for the
day.
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