Rev. Ray and Pat Amos
Matthew 6:5
“And when you pray…”
“Before We Pray”
Before we pray for something, we should consider: “Does it fit into God’s plan, His work, or the kind of life that we are expected to live as Christians?” The struggle that many people have with prayer is at this very point. Prayer can become one sided; we want a God who will listen to us, but we can be less enthusiastic when it comes to listening to Him. It is possible that the Lord has some request for us here on earth below.
The sheep hear the Good Shepherd and recognize His voice. I can imagine them thinking, “That is the voice of the one who cares for us, we will follow him anywhere.” It is the wolf that scatters the sheep. There are too many scattered sheep these days. That can only be because we are losing the art of listening to and following Christ.
Think about the recent conversations that we have had with others. Have we “not really heard” what someone told us because we were somewhere else in our thoughts? One hundred percent attention to one another, and to God, is almost extinct in our electronic world.
Two ways to improve our prayer life is to call on the Lord more and talk less. We quickly recognize the voices that we hear often. How often does the prayer line in Heaven ring because we pray?
Do we ever pray because God called us? There are many ways to block a phone call, or to let an answering service take the message. In a world of “spam calls” that is necessary. When the prayer bells of Heaven ring, it will never be spam. As the old song says, “When He calls me, I will answer.”
“Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer,
The joys I feel, the bliss I share,
Of those whose anxious spirits burn –
With strong desires for Thy return.
With such I hasten to the place –
Where God my Savior shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
And wait for Thee, sweet hour of prayer.”
“And when you pray…” Matthew 6:5
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray
