The obvious - prayer

First of all, let me state the obvious:  God calls us to pray.

 

Which means, simply, that God calls us to have conversations with Him.

 

Prayer is not one-sided; it is a two-way event.  I speak.  God listens and answers me.  God speaks, I listen, and answer him.

 

And here is what I know:  conversation is good for the soul.  For the emotions.  For our mental health. 

 

Prayer is more than "just" a conversation to "get something from God," but it is a time when I build my relationship with Him. 

 

Spending time with God will not build my relationship with Him, but I can't build my relationship with God the Father, the Holy Spirit and with Jesus, unless I spend time with Him.

 

Pastor Cho (of the mega-church in South Korea) once wrote, "Americans will give their money, sing songs, build building and preach, but they will not pray."

 

While that can be true, my prayer is that - that change. 

 

Our Tuesday evening prayer meetings are going well - numerically, it is going down slower than any other prayer meeting that I have attended.  :) :)

 

Jesus said to ask, seek and knock. 

 

To ask, I must window out a time to converse with God.

 

To knock means to strike the obstacle, like a friend knocking at the door of your home. 

 

To seek means to keep on having conversations with God.  Don't stop.  Keep on asking, keep on knocking, keep on seeking.

 

If I come to your house, and knock on the door, I don't just knock once and expect you to hear the knock and come to the door.  I knock several times.

 

Sometimes the answers do seem long in coming.  And when that happens, please know that God cares - and is still listening.

 

Sometimes a "long labor" - a period of travail - is required before we see the "birth" of what we have been anticipating.  But be certain:  the promise will be born.  What may seem long on the earth side of things is often but a moment in glory.  Persistence is needed - mainly because God is preparing you for the answer. 

 

As with the birthing process, so prayer's travail often involves a time of contractions.  During that season - don't give up.  come to God boldly.  Keep on praying. 

 

Keep on looking to God and not your mountain.

 

John Wesley said, "God will do nothing on earth except in answer to believing prayer."

 

I guess I need to say this negatively - and with affection - if we truly believed that, Tuesday evenings would be packed with people seeking after God.

 

Just a thought for a Tuesday (Prayer this evening at 6:30 P.M.)........