Wednesday, December 21, 2005
1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
THE GIFT OF PRAYER
Prayer is a gift of God; a gift meant to be used every day. Deliberately, thoughtfully, talk to God. Out loud? At times. More often, in your thoughts, in the quiet of your inner self. Turning your heart toward God by centering your life on His grace and goodness . . . so conscious of His presence, of His powerful protection, of His help in difficult scrapes, that even unconsciously your spirit turns to the Lord in prayers of praise.
That's the kind of prayer life the Apostle urges here. One characterized by a prayerful attitude, like walking side-by-side with a friend, communing with and without words. Walking with a friend so close, so accepting, so caring that even when you don't speak there is a bond, a connection.
You know, one wonderful thing about friendship is that you can invest in it. You can schedule times of deposit, times together. And in talking and working together the friendship is strengthened, the ability to understand and communicate sharpened so that you're even more in each others' thoughts and, yes, prayers. And with the telephone, never far away.
Paul urges us here so to invest in our relationship with Christ our Lord. Schedule specific times to speak with Jesus frankly, openly, intimately. And listen to Him. Open your Bible and pay attention. Do it regularly. Daily. Invest the effort, and soon between the scheduled times of communication, communion will grow up. He'll be in your thoughts. And you know you're in His. And the phone, the many channeled cell-phone of prayer, is always close at hand.
Is prayer a Christmas gift of our God? Certainly. After all, the Son of God was made man so that we might be restored to fellowship with God, so that through Him we might have free access to the throne of grace.
