Reflection of the Day
"As the Westminster Confession puts it, 'The first duty of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever.' Prayer, as much as obedience, must have a central part in that enjoyment. Many of the enjoyments of the Christian life arise from answers to prayer, so if we never actually get down to the matter of praying, we rob ourselves of much that God intends us to enjoy. We neither enjoy him in the place of prayer, nor appreciate him in his response to our prayers. Prayerless Christianity can only lead to joyless Christianity."
John Wallis
Come Into His Presence, pg. 16
Come Into His Presence, pg. 16
When I ponder on the place prayer and obedience have in the lives of many Christians, I often fear that these are highly lacking and often overlooked in the busyness of life and church activities. And that is very dangerous for prayer and obedience are fundamentals of the Christian life. A Christian life without them will definitely go astray very quickly, and very far astray at that.
It is through prayer, that we encounter God and enjoy His presence, and it is through answered prayer (whether God's response came in accordance to what we had wished for in our prayers or otherwise, God knows best) that we appreciate God and enjoy Him and the privilege we have as His children.
Without prayer, without the reality of God in our lives, our Christian lives quickly become absolutely joyless. We merely go through the motion of a Christian life, going to church services, serving in church ministries, meeting up in small groups, etc. That joy of encountering God daily, that vibrancy of life from those divine encounters, that sense of divine purpose is simply absent.
Difficult as it may seem, in our age of busyness and distractions (much of it self-imposed and sought through the internet and smart phones), we have to make time for prayer, to centre down and seek God. If not, we may simply be going through the motion of life, joyless and busy with a multitude of things that don't really matter.
As Martin Luther puts it, counter-intuitive as it may seem: "I have so much to do that I must spend the first three hours in prayer."
We desperately need to pray. Let it be today. Let it be now. Go and pray and re-encounter God and receive the joy of dwelling in His presence through prayer.
It is through prayer, that we encounter God and enjoy His presence, and it is through answered prayer (whether God's response came in accordance to what we had wished for in our prayers or otherwise, God knows best) that we appreciate God and enjoy Him and the privilege we have as His children.
Without prayer, without the reality of God in our lives, our Christian lives quickly become absolutely joyless. We merely go through the motion of a Christian life, going to church services, serving in church ministries, meeting up in small groups, etc. That joy of encountering God daily, that vibrancy of life from those divine encounters, that sense of divine purpose is simply absent.
Difficult as it may seem, in our age of busyness and distractions (much of it self-imposed and sought through the internet and smart phones), we have to make time for prayer, to centre down and seek God. If not, we may simply be going through the motion of life, joyless and busy with a multitude of things that don't really matter.
As Martin Luther puts it, counter-intuitive as it may seem: "I have so much to do that I must spend the first three hours in prayer."
We desperately need to pray. Let it be today. Let it be now. Go and pray and re-encounter God and receive the joy of dwelling in His presence through prayer.
posted by desmond at 11:37 AM
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