Yo...Welcome back to my life...The last week/two weeks has been alright...What's funny is, I am sitting here not exactly sure of what to write about...That's weird...Usually I can't shut up...Maybe that's part of the problem...Lately I have heard some things about prayer and how important it is to spiritual life...One of my professors says that you can tell, for the most part, the state of someone's spiritual life by their prayer life...I sat there and mulled over those words when he spoke them, realizing the lie I was living...I sometimes think I am doing well spiritually, but I have almost no prayer associated with it...I fill my life up with "Jesus Things" and put a label on it that says "Good Christian Work"...There are so many things I need to be in prayer for: The guys on my floor, my unsaved family, my best friends and the stuff in their lives, stuff in my own life...I think that God will just take care of stuff automatically, which can be true sometimes, but I also realize God is waiting for me to ask for stuff He has in store...He gives us free will, ergo He will not force us to do most things...
Then it hits me that prayer is a two way activity...I must listen as well as speak...James calls the tongue evil, and that's what I feel like mine has brought in on occasion...I have failed to just sit and bask in the presence of God waiting for Him to speak without my interference...And then I walk through my day not entirely positive if I am following his plan for the day...Now I know it isn't as simple as A-B-C...Like God has this perfect plan for the day and I have to follow it second by second, word for word...But I know I need to sit there the day before so I can walk the next day more open to little prods from God throughout the day...
I know He hasn't stopped doing amazing things with my life, they just seem a little farther away since my prayer life has slacked...I refuse to call that a coincidence...He wants to talk to us, just like a best friend you may have that you haven't seen in months...He wants to just be with us and help us along this journey called life...We can be in tune with him throughout the day while "Praying without ceasing", but we must also take that time where we just sit and meditate on God, The Word, And what our day was like...
This amazes me: After Jesus fed the five thousand, he retreated by himself to pray...Before he went into the desert for 40 days, he fasted and prayed...Get that? He got ready for something with prayer and fasting...What am I to do if I haven't prayed and such and something big comes along? Prayer should be a daily thing for the sake of daily stuff yes, but we also need to be in communication with God so we can better handle the crap that is coming our way...
I don't know if any of this fits or makes sense, but its what has jumped into my head...
3 comments:
Jake, I was so happy when I saw that you posted! I always get so much out of what God has given you to learn from! Thanks for keeping it real, and writing it down. yes is all made sense and hit home hard. Good for the soul!
God loves Honesty. So bless you Jake! I actually pray all the time . . . not just saying that. I used to pray really hard once I was lying in my bed and just about to go to sleep. I would end up praying for hours and then it became a problem for me as I got used to not sleeping and now have insomnia. So I pray during the day....... pretty much all day! But anyway you wrote something tonight that I have never even thought of . . .
"I have failed to just sit and bask in the presence of God waiting for Him to speak without my interference..."
So that is me too Jake. I never listen . . . so tomorrow I am just going to listen rather than pray and see what happens. I may find the answer or peace that I am desperate to find.
Thank you Jake, You know I think your a legend!
I wish you would post more often. I love reading your stuff. I kind of came to the same realization this week about myself, so it was nice to read something I can relate to. It's so easy to take God's grace for granted sometimes.
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