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The sermons found on this blog are selected sermons preached by
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Why
do you pray? As a spiritual
catharsis? To get it, whatever it is,
off your chest? To talk it out with God,
but not see it through? Or, yes…see it
through?
Do you pray for your children and grandchildren that God might help
them to be good and avoid the many temptations all around? Did you pray with equal fervor that He might
help you to set a better example?
Not
long ago, I read of a boy who had broken his parent’s hearts. There were rules and regulations in the home
but he felt they had no application to him.
So he broke them.
Therefore, his parents banished him to the attic after dinner every
evening. Here the roof would provide protection from
the elements and the floor would provide a place to sleep. It would not be home, but perhaps this would
teach him a lesson. The first night, however, his father lay
restless in his comfort able bed and could not sleep. So half-way through the night, he gathered up
his blanket, climbed the attic steps and for that night and through succeeding
nights, he slept beside his boy sharing his exile.
This
is God and prayer. God sharing our exile when sometimes we are
the ones who have decreed the exile.
The Psalmist writes “Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from Thy
presence? If I ascend up to heaven, Thou
art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there.” (Psalm 139:8)
There
is no time nor place you cannot pray. If you exile yourself to bars, God is
there. If you wrap yourself in
self-pity, God is there. If you are
singing songs at your wedding, God is there.
If you are weeping at the loss of a loved one, God is there. Your pain is His pain, your joy His joy, your
sin His burden to bear.
Just remember that “Prayer is not conquering God's reluctance, but
taking hold of God's willingness. “ --Phillips Brooks29
One
of the most stupid things a man or woman can do to their immortal soul is to
put that soul on a diet when it comes to God.
And that is what not praying is.
Jesus warns all of us about being lukewarm which I guess means that
if we were to take our spiritual temperature we need to be able to record
somewhat of a spiritual fever.
During
the civil war President Abraham Lincoln said, “Again and again, I am driven to
my knees. There is no other place to
go.”
Ultimately, that is what it is all about. When it comes to our place in time there is
nowhere quite like showing up at the foot of eternity. Nothing like having a conversation with Him
who in the beginning created heaven and earth, and you and me.
Prayer
gets down to the basics. St. Augustine
didn’t beat around the bush in trying to explain. He said “A person prays that he himself may
be constructed, not that God may be instructed.”
True prayer is life’s most honest moment. You may lie to people; put up a front, make
excuses, practice double standards, but a true prayer takes you before the
throne of Grace, and here you and your God take a good look at who you really
are and who you could truly be.
In
closing, consider the truth that true, life-changing prayer is a
discipline. Not an occasional. Not something that you agree is good, but
seldom practice.
Rather, believe the following with James who wrote, and it can
be found in the book of James, 4th chapter 8th verse;
“Draw nigh to God, and
he will draw nigh to you.”
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Here Comes Summer (July 2012)
·
Spring
(May 2012)
·
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow (April 2012)
·
Wayward and Windy (April 2012)
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