What’s your prayer life like?

My Daddy always says this.

Sunday at church, our associate minister preached. When he first started his sermon, I was sorta taken back. He posed this question:

“What would you do if you were told you couldn’t pray?”

Well, this did not sit well with me. I love to pray. It is comforting to me to know there is Someone that I can trust to take care of me anytime, all the time. To even consider for a split second that prayer would not be an option, well, that makes me feel like an elephant is sitting on my chest. Kinda like the times, growing up, when it would come up a cloud. My Mama Boyce would rush around gettin’ me & my brother to the storm house. Papa Clyde would come on down the hill & hunker down with us. Weepin’ & gnashin’ of teeth & a state a panic set in, I’m tellin’ you.
But before I could get into too big of a tiz, Bro. Andrew said what he wanted us to do is think about our current prayer life. Be thankful for it & take inventory on how to make it better. As I jotted down his points, I was thinking, I have a pretty good prayer life. However, I did realize I needed to work on some things.

1. Make time to talk to God, like a good friend. You wouldn’t go days, weeks, or months without talking to your best friend. Set some time aside to talk to God. Just you & Him. No interruptions. Seriously, it can be done. I have really gone back to my bathroom, in my closet, with the lights off & sat & prayed.

(Matthew 14:23) And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.(KJV)

2. Realize Who you are talking to. We have an avenue of prayer with the One that put 248 muscles in a caterpillars head. Currently, it has been said there are 100-200 billion galaxies. Not stars, vast groups of stars. The human body & how it functions is amazing in itself. However, an animal’s body works a lot of the same way. We were given the gift of a soul. We can reason, think creatively, & through Christ’s blood, be saved from our sins. We have the promise of heaven. The One who created all of this, is Who we are allowed to talk to anytime we get ready. Pretty mind blowing, huh? Kinda humbles you, doesn’t it?

(I Chronicle 29:11) Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all

3. Know Who God is not. God is not a genie. You can’t just ask & ask & ask & expect to receive, receive, receive right then & there every time. God has your best interest at heart. Things will happen on His time, not yours. Be thankful. You don’t have to go at God with a list of demands all the time. God is not Someone to be mocked. You can’t walk with God & hold hands with the devil. You have to take God seriously. You can’t straddle the fence. God is not Someone you only visit when you are in trouble. What if God were only there for you part of the time? You have to have a full time relationship with God. That’s what He has for you.

(Galatians 6:7) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

I need to make time to clear my mind to talk to God. I need to remember Who God is. I don’t need to forget Who God is not either! Since my “One Word” for 2014 is Pray, I do need to make sure I am practicing making my prayer life better & better.
Thank you for taking time to stop by today. It is bright & sunny in Northeast MS today. I hope it hangs around a bit. I hope you have a great rest of the week. Shortly, I will be mailing in my registration for our town’s 10k run. I have never done a 10k, only 5ks. So ya’ll be prayin’ for me! But for now, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.