8.03.2011

Cheesecake

Prayer is an attitude, not an action.  For when communion with the spiritual Father becomes a chore and coming to the throne of the Almighty for forgiveness is just a check box on the list, then prayer is not prayer but a way of talking to yourself in third person.  Did not God create the universe with but a word?  Did not God plague the Egyptians? Did not God stop the earth's rotation? Did not God open the ground beneath men to swallow them alive for their rebellion?  Did not God raise the little girl from death?  Did not God pour His full fury upon His most precious Son, allowed His Son to be tortured and mocked, forsook His Son so that He could adopt you into His glory and into His presence for all eternity?  Do you spit in face to say, "I do not really want to talk to you.  But You said I must pray, it is on my list of things to do. I will mumble a few words of gratitude that are not real so that I may feel better about myself.." Christian! God has asked you into His family!  The King who has the power to heal and to kill, to create and to destroy, to bless and to damn, He has invited you with the blood of His Son to come and eat from His table and to enjoy company with Him.  Do you ignore Him when He has given to you that which is most cherished in His heart?!

Remember that God is. And because He is, we should run to Him in humble praise, begging forgiveness for our wrongs, asking for His strength because we have none ourselves, thanking Him for every breath, pleading for His favor on unbelievers we wish would not perish.  God is deserving of more than a two sentence prayer before a meal.  If you do not want to pray, do not pray out of duty, just sticking it out.  If you do not want to talk to God, then ask Him for an attitude which would change your desires.  This request must be accompanied with an actual desire to desire prayer and a course of action to initiate a change of heart.  God will help you if you recognize your inadequacy to change yourself.  If it's any comfort, every Christian, including this author, has struggled with prayer.  The command to pray without ceasing is a very tall order indeed.  Tall, but not impossible.

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