I believe prayer is like the tools in our workshop. I can say I do not have time for prayer and leave it for a day until I need it. When that day comes I need to pray, the day is dark, it seems like the world is crashing around me, the thunder is rolling and I am lost. I can feel the rain hit my face, it is a cold cold rain, it soaks me to the core. I am shivering, wondering what to do now, but then I remember my tools that God has given me, I run to the workshop, there hanging on the wall is the screw driver and hammer and neither of those tools will work to fix the very thing I am struggling with. The Bible and all the sermons will not fix where I find myself. I am overwhelmed by the very essence of life, the very thought of taking another look at the storm. I see the word written on the wall "PRAY", I know that I can not do this anymore.
When it clicks that I have not prayed, that I have not said Lord help me and when I do that I feel distant from God, because I only call on Him when I am in a hard place. Yes, He will help me, but each time, I do this, I am opening the door to the devil to feed my lies. Because here God calls us to call on His name every day, to pray without ceasing, to actually give Him thanks for everything even the bad things. It is easy to forget God when times are not stormy and only rely on God when times are tough, but He is saying to rely on Him in everything. In everything, even in the calm weather, it can't be my strength, it has to be His.
Our lives can be defined by who we search for in everything. Do we rely on our own strength or are we looking to God in everything?
God calls us to a heart of prayer. That means that in all things we are connected to God. I don't have to find a quiet place to pray, I don't have to be alone to pray. I can have a million things going on around me, I can say Lord help me, just doing it in my head. I have to be willing to keep that prayer chain open. It isn't about saying I need to find a place to pray, but saying a prayer right where I am. A thought comes to my mind, I say Lord please help that person. In the car, someone cuts me off, Lord bless that person. I am in the work place, a spiteful thing is said about me or someone takes the Lord's name in vain, it is just saying Lord forgive them, for they do not realize what they do. It is the constant decision to keep a mind of focus on God. When I stop making it about me and I start realizing that my own strength can not get me through the day, I say Lord Your strength, Your will be done, I take the idea of myself out of the equation and start to rely on God only. I admit I can not do it, I have to rely on God.
In everything, when we admit that I can't do it and give it to God to give me strength, to give me guidance, to carry me through, is when God will take over. But each time I try to do it myself, I am reminded, Geoff is that what "I" want?
Today and everyday, work on having an attitude of prayer. It is changing focus from me, to You. That is what God calls us to do. God will change your view and when you have time to be alone with God, take it, because in all the hustle and bustle of life, will consume you without God at the center.
