“But, you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door
and pray to Your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done
in secret will reward you” (Matt. 6:6).
Hey Gang:
Why pray? I mean I can give you a
list for the times when I prayed diligently but did not receive what I was
praying for. Do we not tend to forget to
make a second list, of all the times that God bailed us out or did indeed
answer our prayers with a gold ribbon around them.
I confess to you that praying has always been
hard for me. My dear sainted grandma
often said, “Some are called for prayer and some are called for action.” As I have matured, meaning gotten as old as
dirt, I am not sure she was right. I
have learned that prayer has many meanings including when you are up to your
arm pits in alligators, prayer gives us the power and energy to stand firm on
the Rock who is Jesus Christ.
Several years ago I did a forty-day search on a
book by Dr. John De Vries, Founder of Mission India, called Why Pray. On the very first day he gave an illustration
that cut to the chase as to why one should not be making a list of what prayers
were answered and which ones were not.
His immediate point was, most folks tend to enter into a one-way
conversation with God, without waiting for God to answer. To that I say, “Me too”.
John was part of a prayer group that met daily
asking God to increase the numbers of their group. In the initial stages of their meeting
together God did indeed respond. Their group
grew in numbers, but then one day, it was like God turned the facet off. It
seemed praying was like firing blanks that went nowhere. Been there and know that feeling.
One asked, ”Why pray, when I feel like you are
firing bricks? His response, “Because
there must be some other reason for praying, than “it pays.’” He went on and said, “Does it pay
to talk to your spouse? Why do you do
that?” Answer, “Because you love
her. So then why do you want to talk to
God? Because of the love relationship
that Abba Father wants to have with each of His children.”
Did you even ask yourself the question, ‘Why did
God create man, knowing that man was going to become a royal or not so royal
pain in His neck? Well, that is a
question we could write volumes on, so will leave it for another day. But this
He Has made clear, we were created for fellowship!
As a lad growing up I used to dread when the
pastor called on Sister Grace or Brother Charles to give the morning
prayer. It always seemed to me that they
blessed everything from the earthworms to the cosmos and everything in
between.
As I have grown older, I have come to that point
mentioned by my grandma, some are more able to be the prayer warriors for the Body-
and that is the job of those who have less rigors in life, and the young, more
energetic, are the drone bees in the Body.
Does that mean drone bees are not to pray? Not
in your sweet bippy! But I would remind
you that God hears our prayers even when we are trucking down the road or in
our work place. I have heard folks, who
were in their final lap say, I don’t know why God leaves me here – simple
answer – to pray for your kids, grands and great grands!
Let me make one last point before closing
this. As I mentioned above, praying was
hard for me and praying in public boarded on paranoia. But has changed. A dear friend of our family passed away
several days ago and my bride was asked to do her eulogy.
The church family had prepared a meal for family
and friends and I was asked to bless the food.
My friends, I do not have a clue where most of those present were, in
their relation-ship with the Lord, but I know He was talking to some there
through Jean and me. What a joy it was
to be His representatives at that moment.
We were used by our Father as seed planters.
Look in the mirror. You see that person who is staring back at
you? God wants to use you in some way
today to be a “seed Planter for Him”.
Blessings,
Gramps
No comments:
Post a Comment