20 August: Tuesday Refocus

“The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something and enter God’s realm where everything is possible. He specializes in the impossible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is too small for his love.” - Corrie Ten Boom

I am convinced that we do not pray enough - that I do not pray enough. And maybe that is in large part because we view prayer as a passive activity where we run through a laundry list of requests to God hoping that he will hear, a finger-crossed hope that he will be conformed to our will. But what if prayer looked more like wrestling with God (Genesis 32:22-32), laying our case (Job 23:4), and placing all of our longings before the Lord (Psalm 38:9)? What if prayer looked more like turning our lives and faces toward the one who knows a word before it is on our tongue (Psalm 139:4), and entrusting ourselves to the One who knows our needs (Matthew 6:32)? What if prayer looked more like calling to mind - and therefore having hope that the love and mercies of the Lord are steadfast and never ceasing, new every morning (Lamentations 3:21-23)?

If that is how we viewed prayer it is likely we would pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Father, thank you that we can come to you - the One who knows us and delights in us. In Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB