This last month I have had the privilege to co-lead a bible study on the topic of prayer and that has led me to do a lot of thinking on how what it is that we pray and how often we don’t mean it. Often we don’t even realize that we don’t mean it or don’t realize that we’re praying. For instance, think of the worship songs we sing. So many of those songs are prayers put to music, but for some reason once they have a melody to them we’ll sing them as if they have less consequence. If Christians could live out the promises they make in song this world would be transformed in a heartbeat. If we immediately got what we prayed for in songs I think there would be a lot of people surprised at how God responds.
One line in particular has stood out to me since singing the song “Hosanna” by Hillsong in LOFT last night. It’s a song I have sung so many times and nearly every time I am struck by this line in the bridge but it wasn’t until last night that I began to consider why. The line says “Break my heart for what breaks yours.” Everyone in the chapel sang that line with gusto, eyes were closed hands were raised, it seemed sincere, but are we really ready for that prayer to be answered. Are we really ready to have our hearts broken for what breaks God heart day after day after day. Are we ready to have our hearts broken for victims of sexual assault, for victims of human trafficking, for starving orphans, for HIV positive, for racial discrimination, for hypocritical piety, for families mourning loved ones lost in war?… the list goes on. Are we really willing to pray that prayer when we consider what we’re asking?
I’m not ready for that…but I want to be. I want to be able to grieve for what God grieves over but my heart can’t take it… at least not now not yet. I’m to drawn to my own safety, my own comfort to be willing to have my heart repeatedly crushed. I want to care about those things, to cry about those things, and to avoid a slow death of apathy, but I my heart can only take so much. Praise God that his love is big enough to be broken over all those things each an every day. Praise God that it’s ok that we can’t handle that much but he can and does. Praise God that he takes our own incompleteness and brokenness and is willing to make it whole so that we can be broken with others to help make them whole.
The Long Trip Home 
This is a lot to think about. I’ve never considered that before. If I’m gonna be honest, I think I’d like my heart broken in a limited way. I mean, are we really capable of enduring the pain God must feel?
That is exactly my point. It is grace that we are not required to carry the load and not be overwhelmed by it
I am thankful that God asks us to respond as we are able and not to carry it all. Compassion fatigue is not a problem with God. Our role is to recognize the things around us daily that we can respond to in prayer and action and do them.