My hobby for the last few years has been quilt-making. My sisters and I have made 200 or 300 hand-quilted quilts. None of the long-arm computer-generated quilting. It’s a needle and thread, thimble and scissors. We are old-fashioned quilters. My mother would turn over in her grave if I bought a long-arm machine and my sisters would kick me out of the club. Of course, we are not old-fashioned in our quilting ideas. I have spent many hours getting a master’s degree in YouTube quilt-making. We watch the YouTube hostess/host demonstrate the quilt block and head for the machine and try to duplicate it, and back to YouTube to figure out what we did wrong. Of course, there is no certificate, just tips and tricks from the YouTube gurus who have perfected the art of quilt-making.
I have learned that it is not a myth, “If you cut paper with your scissors, you dull the blade.” It is the same with a rotary blade. The other day I was working feverishly cutting quilt blocks. My cutter kept skipping places in the fabric and I would have to use scissors to finish the cuts. I reasoned my cutting mat was worn out. After all, I had cut miles and miles of fabric on it. I bought a new mat and rolled it out on the table. The first cut I realized that it wasn’t the mat. It was the blade. It didn’t take long for me to change the blade and take time to sharpen all my scissors.
In his book Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, Steven Covey tells of a man who spent hours cutting down a tree. He was exhausted, and when Covey asked him why he didn’t stop and sharpen his saw, he said, “I don’t have time.” I’m not big on using a saw to cut down trees, but the same principle applies to quilting and to life. We are much more efficient when our tools are sharp.
As I thought about a wider application to this principle, I realized that as our souls become dull, we need to sharpen our spiritual scissors to regain the joy and spiritual awareness we once felt. Sometimes, we get so busy with our own agendas and the need to feel like we are doing something of value that we miss the reason we want to accomplish something in the first place. We forget life is a journey, not a destination. We forget that to follow Christ is more important than following the trends or creating something new. We forget that many of our creations will die with us, but the love we leave in the hearts of our posterity is infinitely more important.
How do we sharpen the spiritual saw? Prayer is the whetstone that sharpens our soul. We need to get a master’s degree from the Savior on how to pray. It isn’t a grocery list. It is a conversation with the creator of our spirits and our bodies. He knows what we need more than we do, but expressing our needs to Him helps us learn to discern what we really need versus what we think we need. It helps us to cut through the fabric to make something beautiful in our lives. Prayer teaches us the language of heaven. What a Friend We Have in Jesus by Joseph M. Scriven is instructive:
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged –
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge –
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.
Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised
Thou wilt all our burdens bear;
May we ever, Lord, be bringing
All to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright, unclouded,
There will be no need for prayer –
Rapture, praise and endless worship
Will be our sweet portion there.
Prayer is simple language even a child can learn. Prayer doesn’t need to be eloquent or prepared in advance. Prayer isn’t memorized or read, though it can be if it is sincere and prayed in accordance with the spirit. Hypocritical prayers avail nothing. God hears even the thoughts and intents of the heart.
God knows what we need before we ask Him, so why would we need to pray? I remember when a child learns to walk. They totter back and forth between their parents. They held out their arms and encouraged the child with excited tones and gestures. They squealed with joy when they take even a few steps. The toddler is filled with delight when they fall into a parent’s arms. God wants us to feel His delight and joy of our progress. He wants us to feel His waiting arms around us and He wants to comfort us in our trials. He can’t do that if we never seek Him.
Prayer isn’t about asking for things and receiving them; it is about sharpening the scissors and learning the language of Heaven. It is about conversation. It is about getting to know God as a friend as well as a benevolent benefactor.
There are many examples in the Bible of men who had conversations with God. Noah learned how to build the ark in conversations with God. There was asking, listening and following through in those prayers. Noah had no prior knowledge building a huge seaworthy vessel, or how to gather the animals, but he asked and God spoke to him. God can do the same for us.
Abraham learned that he was going to be the father of many nations in his two-sided conversation with God. He learned that Sodom and Gomorrah would not be destroyed if there was found one righteous soul in the city. He also learned his greatest test was to be the sacrifice of his son, Isaac, and was relieved that he passed the test without slaying his son. Those conversations, called prayer, paved the way for Abraham to receive his promised blessings.
Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, learned about Pharaoh’s dreams through constant communication with God. Joseph fulfilled his mission and came to understand that God’s will had been carried out through the bad choices of his brothers. As a result, Joseph’s heart was softened toward his brothers, and he was able to completely forgive them.
Moses became one of God’s mightiest prophets because he had many conversations with God. The first was when he stood before the burning bush. Moses came to God with a question. Moses said, “I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.” Moses had a question. When the Lord saw that He had Moses’ attention, He called unto him out of the midst of the bush … and the conversation began.
That conversation didn’t end with the Lord calling Moses to set His people free. It went into Pharaoh’s court, through the plagues pronounced upon Egypt. It went across the Red Sea on dry ground and 40 years in the wilderness with a host of complaining and stiff-necked people as his companions who longed for the fleshpots of Egypt. Through conversations with God, Moses received the Law of the Lord. He raised up a serpent in the wilderness where people only needed to look to be healed. Moses probably mourned for those who were too stubborn to even lift their eyes.
It's like the man who was too busy sawing to sharpen the saw – and me, too busy cutting to sharpen the scissors or change the rotary blade. It takes too much precious time for us to look to God and have a conversation with Him. God is the one who knows all the answers to every question, and He knows our needs more completely than anyone else. Why is it so hard sometimes to have a conversation when the answers to our most difficult questions are just a prayer away?
