The preacher's sermon at church yesterday really got me to thinking about the power of prayer and how we so often take it for granted, or worse yet, misunderstand just what prayer really is. How many times do we forget to pray for the happy times in our life and only go to God in prayer when something bad happens. I know it is really easy for me to get caught up in my hectic, day to day routine and forget to take time to talk to God. And isn't that what prayer is really suppose to be? What could be better, or easier, than a one on one conversation with the creator of heaven and earth?
My favorite part of Dave's sermon yesterday was his illustration about people trying to put prayer in the same category as fast food. We think we can pull up to the speaker, give God our order and then drive around to the window and immediately get our answer.
Let's get real here people...do you really think that's the way it works with God? I don't. He doesn't work on our timetable. He's not always in a hurry the way we are. I'm sure He would also like to see us slow down a bit.
I'm not really trying to preach a sermon here; I'll leave that to the professionals. I'm just reflecting on my feelings about prayer and what it means in my life. I don't think prayer is for bargaining with God. I don't really think He makes bargains (that's not to say I haven't tried). In my opinion prayer should be a time of meditation. A quiet time when I tell God what's in my heart and on my mind...praise him for the bountiful blessings and tell him how I feel about the pain and the difficulties. I don't expect instant miracles, but it sure makes me feel better.
Often, I don't think we ever know if our prayers are answered or not. Sometimes the answer is not the one we wanted so we assume it was not an answer at all. As Garth Brooks once said in a song, "Somestimes the greatest blessings in life are unanswered prayer". Please don't get hysterical if those are not his exact words because I don't remember the song word for word, but I do know this is what he meant. We don't always know what is best for us at the moment we utter a prayer, but God does.
For me, I need to work on improving my prayer life and I plan to start now. I need to be more open and honest with myself, (I'm not fooling God anyway!) doing more soul searching instead of keeping it all buried deep inside. Starting now, this is a new journey. My quest is to become a better prayer partner...with God.
Until next time...that's my view
Kat
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