So I had a chat with Jesus yesterday. I had a chat about why I have been struggling in my prayer life… I kept it simple… and things are now on the up swing.
I had this desire, not completely wrong, to speak big beautiful words to him… to try to express in extreme poetry how much I adore him… so prayer became complicated… and then less often. I didn’t want to become religious about it but I swung too far the other way and started to neglect my side of the communication in this relationship. The silent treatment never helps a relationship so…
Lessons in prayer came my way from two unique women of the Lord.
Lady one leads the women’s study I go to each week. She is a gifted writer and a kind teacher. Each study she encourages us to keep our prayers simple. To not seek to impress or quote too much knowledge but to stay on topic. If the person wants prayer for health keep it simple, ‘Lord restore their health (nuff said)’. I have been listening to her advice for a year now and this last week I finally heard it… Oh thank you, study lady, for persevering in doing good… at just the right time your seeds are sprouting into something of harvest.
Lady two is a well known western Canadian folk/pop Christian musician who preached at our church Sunday past. She intertwined her message with her songs and so words of wisdom about prayer where knit to my soul as easily as songs and melodies are glued into my memory. We need to go to God in prayer persistently, HUNGRY and impoverished in spirit. Needing him daily to provide for our spirits, as the Israelites needed the manna daily in the dessert. Not binge eating and then skipping meals, but trusting him enough to seek out the six meals a day… an analogy for seeking him daily and not just BIG TIME now and then. We need to stop trying to do everything on our own strength. Looking to get just a pick me up or a lift from Christ isn’t living by his Spirit. If we can admit we are hungry and admit we are in need of him, as the poor of our cities are in need of food and generosity from others, we will receive.
So yesterday I explained to him why I had got overwhelmed with my own attempts at being an impressive prayer warrior. I told him in less words then that. I admitted my loneliness for him… my overwhelmed nature at trying to run things on my own… I let him into even my dark rooms of sin and trouble and I am praying again. Nuff said.
TTFN
AMEN!!!!