Prayer.
I feel like throughout this last day, God is really speaking to me about this area in my life. Yes, I pray to some degree daily, but to what degree? Do I truly come to God in reverence, in faith, in expectancy? What am I missing out on because of my prayerlessness? I know in my head that God answers prayers and that spending time talking with God and listening to him should be one of my top priorities each day, so why do I spend so little time doing it? I have been challenged through several verses and conversations that I'll share here, in this area.
Yesterday I read in Psalm 109, and David in vs. 4 described himself by saying "but I am a man of prayer". I'm sure much of David's being called "a man after God's own heart" came because of being "a man of prayer". Through prayer, God led him towards his heart. Prayer brings us to the heart of God. I ask myself, can I describe myself this way?
In this Psalm in vs 7, David also talks about a wicked man who is against him and says, "may his prayers condemn him." I thought it was interesting that David's foe also prayed, but his prayers led to condemnation. Many people this day talk about praying for this and praying for that. But are they really seeking God in prayer, or seeking their own desires and will? Who knows exactly what this wicked man was praying for, but it does serve as a warning to not take God and prayer lightly.
Also yesterday I had a conversation with a good friend from church whose husband will be changing jobs. It was very interesting hearing the story of how it happened. The simplified version is that God laid it on her heart a few weeks ago to pray for 30 days for 30 min./day about their families' finances. She experienced a wonderful, deep time in the word and in prayer over this issue. Then they got a call about interviewing for a new position and long story short, they offered them a good bit more $ than the salary he said that he would need to make to take the job. It was obvious in the way things happened that God was very in control of the situation and orchestrated it perfectly.
After hearing her story, I thought about my own situations of change and I thought about all the many areas that need to come together for us to move. I thought about how I've prayed and realized that though I've prayed about things, I hadn't really given these huge decisions and changes such a complete covering in prayer. I was definitely challenged in this and commited myself to more specific and dilligent prayer.
Tonight during our family worship time, we were reading in Luke and just happened to be at Luke 22:39-46, which is the passage about Jesus praying on the Mount of Olives. Here he asks the disciples to pray. He says in vs. 26, "pray that you will not fall into temptation", and in vs. 26, "Why are you sleeping?" "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation". Lately I feel like I've been falling back into some old sin habits that I don't like. I need to make sure that daily I'm putting on God's armor and praying about those temptations that I face. In this passage, Jesus is the model of praying in the face of temptation and hardship, while the disciples are the example of what not to do! Jesus, through his anguish, prays more earnestly, while the disciples sleep. What a contrast!
Who am I to follow? My Lord Jesus, who faces all things in earnest prayer, or the disciples who fall asleep and neglect to protect themselves in prayer? Oh, to carry out the things that I know in my head! How easy it is to know these things, but to let temptations and busyness in life take precedence.
OK - now I'd better stop and go PRAY!
Melanie | 
