Now, Wait Just a Minute!

Have you prayed today? Hopefully, even in the midst of our busy day, each of us took time to pray. Oh, you’ve forgotten? Don’t worry. I‘ve done the same thing more times than I would care to admit! But, how can we forget to pray? It seems it shouldn’t be possible for a Christian to forget to begin each day with the One to whom the day should be dedicated. It seems just as impossible that, having arrived at the end of the day, we would forget to thank the One who saw us through that day – thank Him for safety, for provision, for guidance, for health, for family, for. . . well, everything!

We don’t forget to breathe! You say, That’s part of our autonomic nervous system. If high school biology is a part of your too distant past think involuntary nervous system. We don’t have to think to digest our food. We can only control our breathing within certain parameters. Perspiration, heart rate, salivation – all of these are part of that same nervous system.

Why isn’t there one for praying? Why do we have to remind ourselves to pray? Make promises with dire consequences, etc? Some people seem to be able to pray about anything, at anytime, and anywhere. Others of us seem to operate under the premise that the Almighty should only be bothered under the most dire of circumstances. We believe that God isn’t really interested in us finding a parking place in the front row at Wal-mart. We can so easily forget to thank Him for the sunshine after the rain, or the rain after a long period of doing without it.

The other issue that seems to dominate our prayer life, when we do actually have it, is the inability to keep our mouths shut! When we do pray, we come with a long list of wants. We want God to heal, to help, to guide, to give, to stop something, to start something else, to protect, to keep, to forgive, to correct, to resurrect, to – I think you get the picture. Don’t get me wrong. I am a FIRM  believer that God wants us to ask for the things that are on our mind. He wants to hear from us, even if it is about that parking place at Wal-mart.

However, have you ever considered that God may have something to say to you as well. We pour out our torrent of “wants” and “gimmes” and then run on our merry way waiting for the angels to deliver our heavenly shopping list. What if God literally pulled us back, sat us down, and said, Wait a minute here! We need to spend some time together. I have some things I need to make sure you know, and I need to have your undivided attention so I know you heard them! By the way, I love you.

Remember how you felt taken advantage of as a parent when children used you as a taxi service or an ATM machine and then ran off to have their fun. Maybe, there are times our actions make God feel exactly the same way.                                   

Pastor Craig