Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first”
Our Bible verse for today: “Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Pray first.”
Philip Yancey is one of my favorite Christian authors. I’ve read pretty much everything he has published. I enjoy his skillful use of words as he explains important concepts in clear and interesting ways, but I have also come to appreciate his deep insight into spiritual matters with which of all us wrestle.
In his book “Prayer: Does it make any Difference?” Philip addresses the common concern about whether or not some of our prayers are inappropriate, or maybe even petty and silly. Philip notes that even some of the greatest Christian pray-ers of all time have struggled with this. Meister Eckhart refused to bother God with what he considered to be “trifles”. Catherine of Genoa recorded in her journal that after thirty-five years of constant prayer she had never once asked God for anything for herself.
But is that understanding of prayer Biblical? Actually no, it isn’t. The prayers recorded in the Bible model the exact opposite for us. In the Bible we read of people making all sorts of prayer requests for their own sakes, and praying about the most common and even mundane issues of daily life. An infertile woman prayed for a baby; a poor widow prayed for more cooking oil; a solider begged for victory in battle; people prayed for rain during a drought. Jesus told us in the Lord’s Prayer to ask for our daily bread. Paul prayed for safe travels, prosperous work, relief from physical ailment, and boldness in his preaching. James instructed us to pray for wisdom and physical healing.
Yancey writes, “After reviewing the prayers in the Bible, I have stopped worrying about inappropriate prayers. If God counts on prayer as a primary way to relate to me, I may block potential intimacy by devising a test of appropriateness and filtering out prayers that may not meet the criteria. According to Jesus, nothing is too trivial. Everything about me – my thoughts, my motives, my choices, my moods – attracts God’s interest.”
What does this have to do with our theme of “Keeping first things first”? Paul answered that for us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 when he told us to “Pray constantly”. In other words, pray about everything. Pray first, pray last, pray in the middle. Pray about big things and pray about little things. Pray when things are going well and pray when they’re not. There is nothing about you or your life that God is not interested in. So pray about it all, and pray about it before you do anything else about it.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 