"Let my prayer be counted as incense before You, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!" Psalm 141:2
"...pray without ceasing..." 1 Thessalonians 5:17
"I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or quarreling..." 1 Timothy 2:8
There's a story that makes its way around on occasion. It attributes something to a church father that I honor quite a bit, Martin Luther. The story goes something like this. One day, Luther was asked how he went about praying. He told of how he would spend some number of hours in the morning in prayer. So he was then asked, what do you do if it's a busy day, with a lot planned? The saying goes that he replied, then I make sure to spend at least three hours in prayer!
Three hours a day in prayer, especially when it's a busy day?? That sounds strange to ears influenced by our way of life in the west. After all, we tend to think that time is money, and that our time is valuable, and not to be spent wasted in things that don't bring some form of tangible value to us. So three hours of a day dedicated to prayer sounds insane, especially when there are "bettter" things that we could be doing.
Now, I'm not here to argue how accurate this story may be, or even to try to explain how Luther might define an hour of prayer differently than what we might think. But if you look simply over the three quotations above, one thing is clear. God looks for and calls for our prayers. Not so much as a "Talk to Me!!!" kind of command (although that is in there!), but as an invitation.
In fact, Luther seems to have had a pretty good grasp of that invitation. In his explanation to the opening words of the prayer we know as the Lord's Prayer, he gives this thought. Our Father who art in heaven. What does this mean? With these words, God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father, and that we are His true children, so that, with all boldness and confidence, we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.
Notice how it's much like a father who wants to hear his child speak to him. That's what God looks for from us. Sure, at times we don't want to talk, and the command needs to be reiterated to us. Other times, we don't ask for nearly as much as our father wants to give, and so He reminds us to ask, because He is generous. Other times yet, we find that we babble on about things that really don't have much meaning, and He loves to hear from us at those times, but He also reminds us that He looks for us to be specific and focused when we talk to Him.
Three hours a day? Actually, that sounds about right. The question really is more along the lines of, Do I value my relationship with my Father enough to talk to Him often, even up to three hours a day?
"...pray without ceasing..." 1 Thessalonians 5:17
"I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or quarreling..." 1 Timothy 2:8
There's a story that makes its way around on occasion. It attributes something to a church father that I honor quite a bit, Martin Luther. The story goes something like this. One day, Luther was asked how he went about praying. He told of how he would spend some number of hours in the morning in prayer. So he was then asked, what do you do if it's a busy day, with a lot planned? The saying goes that he replied, then I make sure to spend at least three hours in prayer!
Three hours a day in prayer, especially when it's a busy day?? That sounds strange to ears influenced by our way of life in the west. After all, we tend to think that time is money, and that our time is valuable, and not to be spent wasted in things that don't bring some form of tangible value to us. So three hours of a day dedicated to prayer sounds insane, especially when there are "bettter" things that we could be doing.
Now, I'm not here to argue how accurate this story may be, or even to try to explain how Luther might define an hour of prayer differently than what we might think. But if you look simply over the three quotations above, one thing is clear. God looks for and calls for our prayers. Not so much as a "Talk to Me!!!" kind of command (although that is in there!), but as an invitation.
In fact, Luther seems to have had a pretty good grasp of that invitation. In his explanation to the opening words of the prayer we know as the Lord's Prayer, he gives this thought. Our Father who art in heaven. What does this mean? With these words, God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father, and that we are His true children, so that, with all boldness and confidence, we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.
Notice how it's much like a father who wants to hear his child speak to him. That's what God looks for from us. Sure, at times we don't want to talk, and the command needs to be reiterated to us. Other times, we don't ask for nearly as much as our father wants to give, and so He reminds us to ask, because He is generous. Other times yet, we find that we babble on about things that really don't have much meaning, and He loves to hear from us at those times, but He also reminds us that He looks for us to be specific and focused when we talk to Him.
Three hours a day? Actually, that sounds about right. The question really is more along the lines of, Do I value my relationship with my Father enough to talk to Him often, even up to three hours a day?
Missed your thoughts and musings. So happy you're back. Prayer can be like a conversation on-going with GOD. Thoughts and requests and thanks intertwined.
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