Patricia Raybon is a wife, mother, journalist, former college professor, and an author of two widely acclaimed books. She also is a devout Christian who, in midlife, began to realize that despite all her years of churchgoing, that she didn’t know how to pray. She thinks many, if not most, modern Christians have the wrong idea of what prayers do. Or, more important, do not do. Through her journey to find the true meaning of prayer, she found a better relationship with God, her family and with herself.
What is the significance of your new book’s title, “I Told the Mountain to Move”?
It refers to a verse in the Bible where Jesus says if you have even a small amount of faith you can tell the mountains in your life to move. At age 50 I realized I had a lot of mountains, and they were all lined up at one time.
My marriage of 25 years was at a low point, and I was at odds with my daughters. Also, my wonderful mother, who was in her late 80s, with whom I had always had a complicated relationship, was failing in her health.
I asked God to save my marriage, to bring my children back to the church, to make my mother well, and to turn us into a good Christian family.
Those seem like reasonable prayers. Why were they wrong?
It was as if God was saying, ‘I see your mouth moving but I don’t hear a word you’re saying.’ Once I started to explore prayer I found that prayer is not about getting things, prayer is about getting changed. The first thing that has to change is in the intention of prayer. It is to know God.
What did you do?
I prayed first to praise God. Somehow we get into this practice of using prayer to run down a list of things we want. Praying is about enjoying God’s presence. The thing that needs to come first is our delight in God. And in that we will find the things we desire will change.
What is an example of a better prayer?
Ask the Lord to show you what you are not seeing. Pray for perspective.
Why is that so hard?
We are by design smart and self-sufficient. But God asks us to let go of that and trust him. When a person goes to church every Sunday …, you can begin to think you know it all.
What kind of response has your book received?
The critical response has been great. I also hear from a lot of women who are struggling with family issues. They thank me for my honesty. It’s hard to be honest about not having what looks like the perfect Christian family.
How has this book changed your personal relationships?
It’s shown me the answer to every problem is in love. When I was praying about getting along with my mother, I understood that I just needed to love her. I needed to love my husband and daughters. Love never fails.
