Beholding the Nations

It amazes me how the Holy Spirit gently woos us to prayer.  Prayer lists can be daunting, overwhelming, and feel like...work.  Please don't misunderstand--I am not against writing out prayer lists; in fact, I do this in my ladies' bible study, and my kids keep a list near our breakfast table so we will be reminded to pray for the needs of friends and loved ones.  But how often am I inspired to pray for those things that are not expressed by family and friends, or things I do not see or know about day-to-day?  And how am I to be mindful to stop and pray for those seemingly big and vague things...like a nation?  Especially a nation I have never visited and am unfamiliar with?

Well, apart from keeping a list, or using a book or an app, I don't know how one might be prompted to pray for all.those.things.  But I can tell you how God chooses to prompt me, in those quiet moments of the morning, to pray for people whom He holds dear to His heart:

Photo courtesy of www.lifereference.wordpress.com

Through a steaming cup of coffee.

When I am holding that mug in my hand, and the deep aroma rises up and the warmth meets my face, I am gently prompted to pray for Kenya.
For Ethiopia.
For Peru.
For Brazil.
For Sumatra (and where is that exactly?  I had to look that one up on a map...turns out to be in Indonesia).
For Costa Rica.
For Nicaragua.

Turns out that the Lord brings the nations to me in a simple cup of coffee.  And suddenly it is not just me, bleary eyed in my kitchen, shuffling over to feed the cat, with a mug in hand.  It is a nation that I am suddenly prompted to behold, and consider, and lift up to a Mighty and Holy God.

And suddenly I can see dirt laden fingernails on a worn and tanned hand...


and I can consider a hard-working farmer, turning up the soil in the palm of his hand,

and I can think upon a village high up in the hills, or down in a foliage-dense valley,

and I can almost make out the face of a person picking through those green and brown and red beans, all spread out upon a table...

And I can pray.

Now, don't get me wrong, it is not eloquent.

I don't know where to begin to pray for a nation, so foreign to my own--in truth, I don't know where to begin to pray for my own nation!

Oh, but blessed be the glory of prayer, that it doesn't depend on my feeble attempt at uttering words!

I can just offer up what I have--a barefoot, robe-wearing, slurry of words asking the Lord for His grace, His gospel, His mercy, and His love upon this land that has so graciously given me this steamy brown nectar.

Perhaps you, too, can join me tomorrow morning, with your disheveled hair and your slipper socks...or in your dress clothes if you prefer to imbibe at work (or on the way), lifting up a simple prayer when you hold the warmth of your coffee cup between the palms of your hands.

Do you know where your coffee is grown?  Have you tried single-origin beans?  Oh how fun it is to "taste" each of the nations, to see which ones you like the best.  I love Brazil and Ethiopia!  I enjoyed a hearty cup of Kenya this morning!

Pour a nation into your cup tomorrow, and then pray!

Perhaps a cup of coffee can do more than to give us a boost of energy to meet the demands of our jobs or our kids or our crazy schedule....

....perhaps it can serve to fuel a new and exciting way to pray!