Pray
Without Ceasing
The prayer offered to God in the morning
during your quiet time is the key that unlocks the door of the day. Any athlete
knows that it is the start that ensures a good finish. Adrian Rogers
Many years ago I read a book by Bill Hybels
called “Too Busy Not to Pray”. It
forever changed my way of looking at prayer.
I have prayed the majority of my life but not
with quite the same intensity throughout my life. When I was younger my prayers were pretty
superficial. You know the ones I am
talking about. These are the prayers we
pray when “me or I” is the main focus. We want a better paying job, more money,
an easier life, more things and the list goes on. These are the times when we treat God like
the big vending machine in the sky. Put
your prayer in, press the button and you get what you want. God doesn’t work that way.
Sometimes our prayers are not answered the
way we think they should be and we get frustrated and angry. Why is that?
God knows what we need better than we do, yet we want to be the one who
tells him what we need.
One of the things I have learned is when I
pray without ceasing, amazing things happen and sometimes I will never see the
results of the prayers I pray. That is
the way God works. Throughout each day I
see people who need prayer. They don’t
have to know I am praying for them.
I had a memory today of something that
reminds me of the way God looks at us and prayer. When my brother and sister’s and I were young
Mom and Dad gave us bicycles. I watched
my Dad run many a mile alongside my two older sister’s as they learned how to
ride a bike without training wheels.
When I received my first bike it was turquoise with a white basket on
the front and white fringe hanging from the handle bars and it had a white
banana seat. I remember seeing pictures
of me standing with this big grin on my face when I saw my new bike for the
first time. The thing is I would touch
my bike and run my fingers through the fringe on the handlebars but I wouldn’t
ride it. I would watch my sisters take
off on their bikes but I would just look at mine. Mom and Dad tried to encourage me to get on
and ride but I would have nothing to do with riding it.
Finally one day I made up my mind that I had
watched how it was done long enough and I felt like I knew I could do it, so I
got on and my Dad didn’t have to run alongside me at all. I just took off. It was like I was flying. That is how I
picture God and prayer. When you finally
understand how prayer works it is like flying.
There is no feeling like it in the world when you see prayer at work
because it is supernatural. God just
wants the conversation with you. He
already knows what your needs are, he just wants your time and the results are
a true relationship with Him. Pray
without ceasing.
Prayer for the Day:
Heavenly Father, prayer is my way of communicating with You. There is nothing that can compare to my time
spent with You. The quiet time I spend
in talking to You throughout my day gives me more strength to make it through a
fallen world filled with tragedy. I
praise You for giving me the communication of prayer. Without it I would be
lost.
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