“Prayer is…a quarantine for the soul. It gives us the opportunity to be honest, to say what we believe, and to stand for what we say.” (“Man’s Quest for God”, Abraham Heschel)

“22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” (Acts 16:22-25)

We hear to much about being “Quarantined” these days. If we leave the state and travel to another that has an elevated number of Covid cases, we have to quarantine ourselves when we return. If we come in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with, or even someone who has come into contact with someone who has Covid, we have to quarantine ourselves. To quarantine is to lock ourselves away from others — or to lock others away from ourselves.

Have you ever thought of prayer as a time of “quarantine”? I find this image comforting, but also challenging. I find it challenging because I want to have an un-interrupted prayer life, but unfortunately, my life is filled with too many distractions. But this is also why I find the image comforting — because this is what I think prayer time should be — a time where we are quarantined from others, from distractions, and quarantined from our thoughts.

When Abraham Heschel speaks of prayer time being a quarantine for the soul, I believe he is not just speaking of the time we spend alone in prayer, but he is also speaking about giving ourselves time to be honest about our need for G-d. Prayer allows us to present to G-d who we really are, not the false self we try to project to others. It allows us to speak honestly with G-d, saying what needs to be said, not what others think we should say. And it allows us to to stand naked in front of G-d, pouring out our true inner needs and desires.

My friends, prayer time should not feel like jail time — or Covid-19 quarantine time — sentenced to “hard time” without a clue when it might end. Instead, allow your prayer time to be an honest, heartfelt, faithful conversation with the G-d who never locks us out.

Pastor Dave