Sweet Hour of Prayer

July 29, 2015

Sweet Hour of Prayer

“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private . . . “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do . . .  Don’t be like them . . .  Pray like this: Our Father in heaven . . .”

Matthew 6:6-9 (selected portions)

There are times when I follow this quote attributed to St. Augustine: "Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you." When I see results that I judge as good, I am thankful for God’s blessings and take a bit of pride in my hard work. This is as it should be because God created us to be proactive participants, not passive observers, in the work of building for His coming Kingdom.

There are also times when I feel stuck in neutral. My prayer life and attention to spiritual disciplines is lacking. Sometimes in the midst of this dry and barren place a wave of light bursts into my existence, and I receive from my Master’s gracious hand a new insight or other blessing. When this happens, my heart agrees with Tillich’s observation, “If that happens to us we experience grace. After such an experience we may not be better than before, we may not believe more than before. But everything is transformed." (Tillich, Paul, The Shaking Of The Foundations)

The transformation I experience is really rather simple. When I pray, before I mention my petition, I first draw close until I am fully aware of to whom I am praying. When my senses are full aware of My Father, I then rest until I am fully aware of who is it that is asking, “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16). With this fresh vision of what it means to know the Creator of the universe as my Abba, I generally forget my petitions. Not to worry though, “your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” (Matthew 6:8b).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.