It's amazing how summertime for a teacher always allows a wonderful opportunity to track the events of the day, week, or month in a blog. I sadly checked my blog today to realize my last post was July 8th!! (Which did happen to be a wonderful celebration!) I know that life has been busy, but good grief! :)
I sit in my living room with Lala Belle watching Team Umizoomi, and I have so much on my heart and on my mind. I thank the Lord for a wonderful wife and 2 beautiful children who are growing up way too fast. I thank Him for what He is doing in our lives right now and how every day is one more chance to impact the world for Him.
The season of life right now seems to be prayer. I know that this is something God wants to develop in my life so that I can become a better prayer warrior for Him.
Why does the spiritual discipline of prayer seem to sometimes be so hard for us??? We love to talk to people on the phone, in texting, on facebook, and face to face. So why is it so hard to talk to God? I think the real reality and answers to this question are sad and disturbing.
1.) TIME
We would not dare say this outloud, but one of the biggest excuses is time. We simply do not make the time needed to have conversations with God daily. We might do it in the morning or when we put our head on our pillows at night. But how many times do our prayers start with a little bit of geniuneness and then turn into a distractive "what do I have to do tomorrow?" Or how many of us use prayer as a mode to put us to sleep. Wow! Check that one in a human to human set. How would you love for someone to come to you and ask you to have a conversation with them so that they could get to sleep easier. Any real relationship we have and want requires time. Same with God. An active/real relationship with Him requires time.
2.) LAZINESS
It's a sad moment in time when we set our alarms for early in the morning so we can spend time with the Lord, only to roll over and hit the snooze button because we just can't make it through the day if we get up that early. Again, it's kind of like having a lunch date and then standing your friend/spouse/etc. up because you just don't feel like going. I think we live in a world today that has been overtaken by apathy and laziness. We want to apply ourselves to different things, but it when it comes down to the continual commitment needed to succeed, we generally tend to give up or give in to laziness just because we do. I don't even know that there is an excuse that we try to attach to it beyond that. It is what it is.
3.) ATTITUDE
I would say many times that we fall into one of these categories: I am not good at praying, so why try. Or, I am way away from God right now, so there is really no sense in me even trying. I would just be praying to the space around me. We should all know that the Lord is asking us to cry out to Him. For many if not all of us, it should start with an apology and an understanding that we aren't perfect but we can be forgiven. Lay your heart out to the Lord. He already knows what's on it anyways. He is always chasing after us and we can never run too far away or find a secret place to hide. He knows.
4.) COMMITMENT
The final one on my heart is commitment. We don't spend time in prayer because it takes a commitment. If we really looked at how we prioritize things in our lives, many of us would hope that we put God towards the top. Yet if we did an inventory of our commitment to Him, it probably wouldn't turn out too good. Growing in our walk with Christ takes commitment. Commitment takes sacrifice. Sacrifice is getting up early to share in fellowship with Him. Commitment means resisting the urge to hit snooze and get out of the bed! Commitment means consistency. It's not different than wanting to quit a bad habit or get in better shape/health. It starts with a personal choice made. Is this something that I really want to apply myself to, or am I just saying it to make myself think I can do better? The answer will prove itself. If it's real, consistency will come. It is very hard at first, but consistency will come.
So where do you stand on prayer? Are you a prayer warrior? Is it a discipline in your life that you really want to do a better job at? I challenge all reading this to become a better prayer warrior. You may need to find some books to read or studies on prayer that can help with this. But go beyond reading and put it into action. As Nike would say, Just do it! No matter how good or bad you may think you are at it....Just do it!
I love the moments that I am able to spend time with the Lord and time just seems to disappear. I am not worried about anything but being with Him. It saddens my heart for the moments that I fall into one of the categories above and miss an opportunity to hang out with the One I love the most. There is power in prayer...start today!
