though always done with somber face.
From its lips most praises ring
or weeps for more extended grace.
Prayer is a mighty thing
yet so oft neglected.
Prayer is a curious thing
no man can know its function
Though God promises to heal the sting
if truly prayed with unction.
Prayer is a forgotten thing
our jeans not worn through.
Yet how often forgotten
when time and again God pulls us through the slough.
I write this post to remind my Christian brothers and sisters of the importance and power of prayer. It cannot be neglected. I write this as an exhortation to myself mostly. I pray at a maddeningly inconsistent rate. I find it most difficult to pray when there is seemingly nothing going wrong in life. But to even think that there is nothing going wrong in life means that my view of everything is so near-sighted and self-serving that sometimes I feel I must vomit. How convenient it would be to live in a self-centric universe. Often times I find myself even when I do make the time to pray falling into a state of distraction and lack of focus. I guess this is why we are commanded to fix our eyes on Jesus.
As I write this post I find myself wondering what it meant to pray without ceasing. What does it mean?
Does it mean that every hour of every day we must pray? I'm not so sure about that. Not that I'm saying that that is wrong, I'm just interested in what that actually means.
Jesus often times departed from company and made a point to pray alone to His father. But was Jesus praying without ceasing? Well if Jesus is a fulfillment of the Scripture, then He must have fulfilled the whole Scripture including the writings of Paul. So what then is praying without ceasing?
Is it prayer all the time? Perhaps.
But I believe that praying without ceasing is a constant focus on the will and person of God. This is the same way that Jesus himself lived and died and rose again.
My challenge to you my friends, and myself is this, pray without ceasing.
Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."
Prayer is a funny thing
though always done with somber face.
From its lips most praises ring
or weeps for more extended grace.
Prayer is a mighty thing
yet so oft neglected.
Prayer is a curious thing
no man can know its function
Though God promises to heal the sting
if truly prayed with unction.
Prayer is a forgotten thing
our jeans not worn through.
Yet how often forgotten
when time and again God pulls us through the slough.
Pursue holiness.
Fiat justitia et pereat mundus,
Ross
