August 3, 2018 Friday

“14 ¶  For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15  from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height —  19  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21  to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:14-21 NKJV)

            Prayer is something we often are taught to do but not what prayer means or how to pray.  The Hebrew word for prayer is itself a primitive root word which has several meanings including intervene, interpose, mediate and judge.

            There are many ways to pray. It is more important to take time to pray then to worry about how. There is not a wrong way to pray because as we pray God will guide us so we can discover the most direct way to talk with God.

            It is very important to remember prayer is a conversation with God and not an opportunity to present a wish list. Like in any conversation there is an opportunity to speak but you must also listen carefully to be a conversation.

            For some prayer must be formal on their knees, eyes closed and head bowed while others tend to be more informal and talk with God like they are talking to another person. Each person must find the way to pray which helps them to pray more often.

            The Bible calls for us to pray without ceasing and this is a reminder God is with us all the time and so it is important to share your day with God and seek help throughout!

            This passage is also a reminder to not pray too small! Paul prays for his brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ to receive and live the fullness of the Christian faith. Rather than limiting our requests to our own family, our congregation and community as John Wesley reminded us “the world is our parish”. Our prayer can and should be beyond our ability and comprehension. We are taught in Scripture when we run out of words or are beyond what we have words to say the Holy Spirit will speak for us!

            If you pray how often do you pray? During your time of prayer do you pause so you can hear God speaking to you? Have you ever prayed so deeply you ran out of words and had to trust the Holy Spirit would speak for you?

This has been a hard week.  Had a real bad experience where I was freezing and jerking all over.  It went on so long I only quit because my muscles were worn out.  July was a terrible month and I struggled in so many ways. It was so hard on Bonnie and Rebecca since they have had to do even more.  Even the little I can do seems to make it harder on them.