Day 27 - A vital part of life

Prayer in any form brings God on the scene. Psalm 22:3 says God inhabits the praises of His people. When you enter into thanksgiving and praise, you invite God’s glory, His presence, to fill your life and your situation. At times of high praise, the glory of God will fill the whole place with His sweet presence. Trouble is, we can become too busy in our everyday lives, for everyone is looking for more from us and we don’t have time to come before God in prayer.

My Favourite writer Oswald Chambers, says this about prayer. He says: "Prayer isn’t an exercise but a vital part of life". He continues, "Get a place for prayer where no one imagines that that is what you are doing. Shut the door and talk to God."

I like so many others have found it impossible to conduct life as a follower of Christ without definite times of secret prayer. William Carey has a super comment on the subject, based on his personal experience of prayer suggests: Secret, fervent, believing prayer - lies at the root of all personal godliness. I remember back in the day when working with seaside mission, many of the short-term mission teams had William Carey’s words stamped on their tee shirts: “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God”. Even though we don’t get our prayers answered the way we would like, there will still be an answer and for that we give God thanks for all he has done.

Mahatma Gandhi’ gives us these words: “Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening.” This quote encapsulates the significance of prayer in one’s daily life. In simple terms, it suggests that starting the day with prayer sets the tone for the day ahead, unlocking its potential, while ending the day with prayer helps to find peace and closure, securing the day’s experiences and lessons. No act of mine is done without prayer. We are all fallible beings. We can never be sure of our steps. What we may regard as answer to prayer may be an echo of pride.

A minister went to conduct the evening service in a rural church in the North of Scotland. Driving to the venue it began to snow, creating some picturesque scenes. At the end of the service as everyone was preparing to leave it was blizzard conditions when they went outside. The minister got into his car with the family and before moving off they asked God to get them home safely.

The drive home that evening was scary, but as they came over the last hill, they could see the manse and were relieved that they were almost home. The minister remarked, “Thank you, Lord, for getting us this far, I can take it from here”. However, as he was turning into his drive the car skidded and knocked down the gate pillar! The lesson here is if we ask God to do a job for us through prayer, let Him do it and don't take the burden back from Him or we’ll mess it up.

Enjoy your day.

Tom Bonnar