Included in a forthcoming chapbook.
True prayer is one of the greatest gifts that the Lord has given us. Talking to the Lord is a responsibility and privilege that few in the world today often utilize, if at all. Without true prayer, we are but a pawn in the game, whereas when we speak with the God who created the universe, we become an active soldier for him. When we pray, we are part of the army of Jesus Christ battling against the unseen forces in this world. Our enemies though not visible, are active in everyone’s life, and thus we must use prayer as our weapon against them. As a soldier of Christ, we have the unique opportunity to call on our King and ask him for assistance in whatever it may be. We have the chance to affect the entire battle, though we are but a lowly soldier.
Why do we not use this precious opportunity more? We claim that we are too busy, that we have no time to pray. Yet those same people have time to complain that their life is not fair or going how they want it to. If you do not pray and ask the Lord, what can you expect of your results? That virtuous goal you wish to attain is a feat made much more fruitful when he aids you in the journey. Jesus openly declares to all that he is prepared and lovingly willing to share the burden of the struggle with us. We say that our life is just too burdensome, that we are stressed, yet we never ask for assistance! Those who do so with an honest, open heart pure of any ill intention find that their prayer was received. In the world today, we think that if a prayer is not immediately answered or even answered within a week, that it was never even heard at all. This leads us to doubt God and Christ and takes us down a bitter path of distrust, doubt, and utter despair. We pray that harm may not come to us, and when it does not, we forget to pray in thankfulness. We forget that the Lord may have intervened and saved us at that time, and yet we continue on. He could have allowed you to live another day, and yet we are unthankful; we move on. It seems that sometimes we even expect it and think that God is obligated to help us. May I remind you; God owes us nothing. We owe him everything. Every prayer is received and heard, but have you considered that God had something better for you? That prayer, that request, that wish may be small compared to what God has prepared for you. Thus, he does not disregard and not listen to your prayer, but rather he allows it not to happen so that what he has prepared for you, that which is far more favorable, may indeed bless you. As close-minded and limited humans, we see only what we did not get, and when this blessing comes upon us, we regard it as something that we have done ourselves through our labor and use it as a personal victory. This inflates our pride and makes us believe that we are self-reliant and no longer require the Lord, turning what he has given us into a curse against ourselves and plummeting into despair.
When was the last time that you prayed? No, not simply prayed. Prayed with tears in your eyes and pain in your heart. When was the last time you prayed to God with emotion, realizing he is all you have and the only one who can help you? Until we pray in that manner, we will not see the fruits of true prayer in our lives, and we shall be living in the darkness. We have been given a flashlight, and we refuse to use it! We think that there is no use for this flashlight, yet we continue to stumble and fall deeper into the cavern, nearing the verge of ruin and death. What is the use of living in the sludge when we can be cleansed? If we do not pray, how are we to ask for forgiveness when we inevitably fall into sin? Christ was tortured for you, yet you refuse to ask for his help when he died out of his love for you. Dying on the cross for your sins, you look everywhere but prayer. A simple, heartfelt prayer to the ear of the King is needed to cleanse you of your darkness. We forget that through prayer, we ask for forgiveness. We expect to be magically, automatically cleared. We rush to the hospital when our body is ailing, but we never think to rush to prayer when our soul is in a pit of sludge.
Further, we forget that through prayer, all things can be done. Countless miracles throughout history have happened, many untold of, which occurred through the true, simple, and ultimately complete faith in Christ. What power we have been given! To think that the creator of the universe allows us to speak with him, to ask simple things of him. How truly loving and caring is God! Without prayer, imagine where we would be. We would have no chance of repentance nor petition to the King.
We must give thanks for such a wonderful gift, such an incredible blessing! All people may come to the King regardless of where they are from, how much money they have, or what social status they were born with. God has given us this amazing chance, and we must learn to utilize it to our best ability and master it in daily earnest dedication and striving. I encourage you, right now, as you finish this essay, that you may sit down and pray. Pray as you have never before, for we do not know when it is our last time.
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© Philosophical Rambler 2021