wednesday writings: on prayer

Prayer has been on my mind a lot lately. I know I am not alone; God seems to be stirring up prayer and the desire to pray in our church. And, I hope, in all the other churches around the world as well.

Prayer is not always the first thing in our lives. It is not our first choice. It might not even be the second choice. More often than not, I don't feel like praying. Sometimes I don't even think prayer is really that necessary. God knows everything in my heart so He knows those prayers already, right?

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." - Psalm 139:23-24

It is in neglecting to pray that temptation and sin enter. That anxiety comes. When we choose to not pray, we choose to not spend time with God. Understandably, prayerlessness makes us much weaker when tempted, as Christ is the one who gives us strength to resist the temptations. When we neglect to pray, we are, in essence, rejecting spending time in the presence of God.

"Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." - Mark 14:38

So I have been reminded that prayer is important. Prayer is crucial. It is prayer that makes this all a relationship with God. Prayer is where I get to pour out my heart, to talk to God. It is also where God gets to pour out His heart, where He talks to me. As the saying goes, you become like the 5 people you spend the most time with. When you spend time with God, in His presence, you will become like Him. Your heart will be changed. Your thoughts will be changed, to being more God-centered. You will be changed; transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." - 2 Corinthians 3:18

That, right there. That is a beautiful image.