PRAYER

 

In a word, I suck at prayer. I have plenty of opportunity to pray. And I have more than enough reasons to pray. Almost every second I’m awake I could be talking with the Lord. So why don’t I? Should I make a list of reasons why I’m not praying? Or should I just spend the time I would use making that list actually praying? 

 Recently I have come to realize that this is another area in my life that needs major work. And the place to start, as always is the bible. 

The first verse that hit me was John 15:7 but if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 

 So Wow! What is my problem? Is that not a reason to pray endlessly? But as a weak minded and very easily distracted human, remaining in God and keeping his words in me, that is something I really have to work on. 

Here is another good one.

Matthew 26:41
“Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!”   

As I just said I’m weak; I’ve got to pray more!! So how should I pray? Do I need to build a stone alter, get some robes, really go old school Moses and do this thing right? I don’t think so. 

 My grandfather William Clark was at one time a West Virginia coal miner and I remember him telling of a small coal shaft behind his house where he would dig coal to heat their home with. But this dark, and often cold, hole in the ground was also for him special place to spend time the Lord. 

One place I have found to pray is when I’m alone in the car, I can talk with God all I want. And as a bonus when I get stopped by a train it’s a good thing. But there are other places I need to work on also. As I have started to grow closer to God I’m finding some of the TV shows more and more offensive. I guess if they can’t write good jokes they just go for the sex jokes. But I don’t need to watch that garbage so instead of surfing the channels I need to have a talk with the Father. 

I guess for most of my life I usually made it to church, but I wasn’t leading a Godly life and I let the devil tell me that because of the things I was doing I wasn’t worthy to pray to God. And while I needed to get my spiritual life in order, not praying to God was not the answer! 

 When I was in boot camp I volunteered to be what they called the Religious Petty Officer. My main job was to give a prayer at the end of the night. Some times I would write a prayer but more often than not, I would lead them in the Lords Prayer. Boot camp is designed so you have very little down time or time to get homesick so I didn’t get time to write very much. But I always felt if I didn’t get to write a prayer I wasn’t doing my job. 

 Never did it dawn on me that there is no way I can ever write a better prayer to God than Jesus did. So my goal from now on is to try and pray Matthew 6:9 -13 every day and not just as a ceremony or routine but to really mean it from my heart.  

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one 

Thank you for praying with me, and please pray for me. Love you all.