This past week has been unusually cold, considering the warm spell that came before it. It went from being in the fifties every day to the thirties in almost a week. Each of the last few mornings, it's been below freezing, cold enough to merit a trek to the local cafe for their hot chocolate. I've joked with my coworkers that this cold has taught me to roll my wheelchair one-handed, so I can hold my cup without it spilling.
As I sip another taste of the steamy froth, I praise God for the things he's done. Just recently, I've been praying hard about some stuff; the result, I feel refreshed, and warmed up. Prayer is like that, actually. In this cold, frigid world we live in, prayer is the hot chocolate that warms our soul.
Yeah, I admit, I'll pray for healing over something as trivial as a cold. Prayer and hot chocolate can do wonders for a cold. Except with the snotty colds, hot chocolate soothes the throat and sinuses, and for the most part, it relieves cold symptoms. The prayer offered up in faith can do that too, sometimes getting rid of the cold entirely.
I drink hot chocolate for more than colds though. Hot chocolate is good for so much more than just the occasional sick day. A hot chocolate between friends brings them closer, chinking their spoons against the sides of the mugs and sipping pensively. The time it takes for the hot chocolate to drain out of a ceramic mug is the same amount of time needed for a healthy conversation, or for one friend to encourage the other in taking the next step. Prayer gives us that intimacy with God.
Get a large hot chocolate with no marshmallows or whipped cream often enough, and people will begin to recognize you as a hot chocolate drinker. This morning, the barista with the wavy blond hair, she guessed how I wanted my drink made from the hot chocolates I drank in the past. The fact is, I love me some hot chocolate on cold mornings. I don't get it often enough, but man, when I do, it's worth it.
Likewise, I know I don't pray as often as I would like. When I do however, I no longer shudder in the world's icy gale. While they may not know what, people can see it if you're getting your morning prayer in. With a large hot chocolate, there's a tangible cup in the cardboard cup holder you carry; people might wonder whether it's a coffee or a cappuccino you're drinking, but regardless, they know you're drinking something. With prayer, they wonder what you're drinking when they see the peace of God in the way you carry yourself.
Through a large hot chocolate, you have the ability to strike up a conversation with anyone else holding a hot beverage. There is a subtle bond between two people mulling over the steam escaping the plastic sippy-lid, one that wouldn't exist had you not bought a large hot chocolate that morning. Without prayer, so many things are impossible in our lives, but through a single act of prayer God does the impossible.
Finishing a large hot chocolate is always the hardest part. It's not that I can't drink the whole thing, it's that when I come to the last dregs of my cup, I begin to crave more, longing for the contentment to linger a moment more.
Fortunately, prayer leaves my thirst satisfied.
