seed:
When we say one word, “Father”
John Hodges
What prompts you to pray? Is it bad times or good times? Is it the offhand, ‘Bless this food and pass the corn” dinner prompt? Do you follow the teaching in 1 Thessalonians 5 and “pray without ceasing”? I hope it is the latter, but it is a difficult directive to follow.
Pray without ceasing.
Sometimes I get too busy to pray. I think…well actually I don’t think because if I did I would realize prayer is the most essential element in my life.
Let’s look at a couple of wise writings – one a poem the other a quote – about taking time to pray. First, a poem:
I got up early one morning
and rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish
that I didn’t have time to pray.Problems just tumbled about me,
and heavier came each task.
“Why doesn’t God help me?” I wondered.
He answered, “You didn’t ask.”I wanted to see joy and beauty,
but the day toiled on, gray and bleak;
I wondered why God didn’t show me.
He said, “But you didn’t seek.”I tried to come into God’s presence;
I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
“My child, you didn’t knock.”I woke up early this morning,
and paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish
that I had to take time to pray.
A great poem from an unknown author. As a matter of fact, my mother gave me and my three brothers a cross-stitched wall hanging with this poem on it about ten years ago. When we wonder why the day is gray and foggy, rather than ask the weather man, maybe we should go to God and “ask, seek and knock”.
The quote is from the venerated Marin Luther who has a 500th anniversary coming up on October 31st of this year. It will have been 500 years since he nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenburg church and started the Reformation on October 31, 2017. One day Luther said, “I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer.” You may say that’s unrealistic; you may say, ‘What would I pray about for three hours?”. It’s not unrealistic, but it may require an early wakeup. As for praying for three hours, try some time. I bet most of us have so much to pray about that we could easily take up three hours.
I love the song “Sweet Hour of Prayer” (it’s my mother’s favorite hymn). Prayer can call us away from a “world of care”. Communing with God is the most enjoyable experience I can think of. I wonder why I neglect it so easily.
The seed above says that all we have to do is say “Father”. We say that one word and we are immediately transported into the throne room of Almighty God. WOW! I have access to the King of Kings and I neglect it!? There is something definitely wrong with a Christian who doesn’t pray.
I pray right now that each person who reads this will seek God more. Just think how much better your life will be.
Seeds of Thought 