Mount Hood is located in Northern Oregon close to Portland. The mountain peak is about two miles above sea level. At higher elevations you are supposed to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated- something about being way up high can dehydrate you. So take a spare I.V. next time you go mountain climbing. Mount Hood is a stratovolcano which means that every time it erupts, a new layer of hardened lava forms and the mountain grows. I guess you learn something knew everyday, huh? The problem is that you never know when it’s going to erupt. There are no patterns and there are no fully accurate predictions. One would be a fool to build his house on the side of Mount Hood. At any moment a trail of lava could engulf your home and it would be gone forever.

We live in a world that is constantly erupting. The only accurate prediction is that it will continue to erupt. Those eruptions are made up of injustice, brutality, inhumanity, prejudice, unfairness, sin, disease, unforgiveness, apathy and indifference. Some eruptions we can control and some we can’t. There are warnings for some and others catch us completely blindside. They can be surprises that we wished we would have never had the chance to know. Helpless, we often sit with no hope and no plan. Many times it seems like there is nothing that we can do except…pray.

Prayer? What’s the point? Does prayer even work? It seems to be so elusive- getting the ear of God. But what if what we prayed made a difference. You see, what prayer does is take you from the natural world to the supernatural world. Reality is not measured by what you see, reality is measured by what is permanent. Prayer takes you from the dimension in which you live to an alternate dimension where things are really real. The supernatural realm, the permanent, has major ramifications on the natural realm, the temporary. What is done in the supernatural realm can send a wave that ripples throughout all of eternity, but also crashes in on your world. If you can do something that affects the supernatural world then you have in reality also affected the natural world. But there is only one way to get there- pray. Prayer is communication with the one who holds both dimensions in His hands. In the natural world you can feel so small and insignificant. You might even feel like you can’t make a difference at all. To be completely honest, most of us will not make a huge difference in the natural world with our lives. But what if we could make a difference in the supernatural world? You remember right? The supernatural world has a direct connection to the natural world.

There’s this crazy story about a mythical lumberjack named Paul Bunyan and his pet ox Babe. One night Paul and Babe are using Mount Hood, after one of its eruptions, as a campfire. After they get through roasting marshmallows and hot dogs it’s time to put it out. So Paul throws some rocks on the volcano and it stops- it simply becomes dormant. I hope that you let your imagination go and picture this. A two-mile high volcano, erupting with fire and lava is put out by a giant and his pet ox. Talk about ramifications. You might not be much in the natural world, but when you enter the supernatural world through prayer, you become like Paul Bunyan where every move you make has eternal consequences. To drag your ax is to dig a grand canyon and to take a step is to shake the earth. But most importantly, your responsibility in prayer is to stop eruptions. And it’s in this realm that you can. You have the ability to stop the insanity of our world by spending time on your knees. You have the capability to rid lives of purposelessness by entering conversation with the creator of purpose. If you choose to begin this adventure, only God knows what is in store for you. I challenge you, become a person of prayer, become a person who puts out eruptions.

Prayer- welcome to the world of giants.

A word picture or metaphor can help bring a new perspective to something. What word picture is used for prayer in this entry?

Have you felt your prayers are pointless at times?

What do you think about praying now?

Over the next 10 weeks, see if you can come up with your own word picture or metaphor that helps bring a new perspective that motivates you to prayer.

• The Prayer Experiment