August 25th, 2021
You never know where or when inspiration is going to hit you, and where or when God is going to speak to you. It can happen at the most unexpected time. This morning, I did not expect God to speak to me while simply picking which shirt I should wear. But then I walked into my closet, pulled it out the first shirt I saw and then saw what God wanted to tell me today. On the front of the shirt, there is a quote from John Wesley who said "prayer is where the action is".
Prayer is hard. Sometimes we don't know what to say, or how long to pray for. We may struggle with what is worthy of prayer and what is not. We can become concerned about our prayers being too selfish, only thinking about ourselves. It's true that prayer shouldn't just be a to-do list that we give God. And while it is ok to pray for our own needs, it is also important to pray for others. But what do we say and how long should our prayer be?
The good news is that Jesus wasn't a fan of long prayers. He also wasn't a fan of praying in public just to be seen by others. The kind of prayer Jesus liked the most was a simple prayer that simply connected you or the people around you with God and with those in need. It is perfectly acceptable for prayer to be totally silent and even word-less.
Yes, prayer doesn't have to include words. That's exactly what John Wesley said. Prayer is about action. Our words are empty if we only pray for the hungry, but do nothing to feed them. Our words are empty if we pray for our veterans, but do nothing to support them. So, we can take the pressure off ourselves. We don't have to worry about what to say or how long to say it. God wants our loving actions more than our words. Instead of "what prayer can I say", let's ask ourselves "what prayer can I do". There are plenty of opportunities within our ministries for all of us to pray through our actions. I would love to have a conversation with you about what you can do with the church. You can call me or email me any time! Let's do prayer together!
- Reverend Dave
reverenddaveledford@gmail.com
Prayer is hard. Sometimes we don't know what to say, or how long to pray for. We may struggle with what is worthy of prayer and what is not. We can become concerned about our prayers being too selfish, only thinking about ourselves. It's true that prayer shouldn't just be a to-do list that we give God. And while it is ok to pray for our own needs, it is also important to pray for others. But what do we say and how long should our prayer be?
The good news is that Jesus wasn't a fan of long prayers. He also wasn't a fan of praying in public just to be seen by others. The kind of prayer Jesus liked the most was a simple prayer that simply connected you or the people around you with God and with those in need. It is perfectly acceptable for prayer to be totally silent and even word-less.
Yes, prayer doesn't have to include words. That's exactly what John Wesley said. Prayer is about action. Our words are empty if we only pray for the hungry, but do nothing to feed them. Our words are empty if we pray for our veterans, but do nothing to support them. So, we can take the pressure off ourselves. We don't have to worry about what to say or how long to say it. God wants our loving actions more than our words. Instead of "what prayer can I say", let's ask ourselves "what prayer can I do". There are plenty of opportunities within our ministries for all of us to pray through our actions. I would love to have a conversation with you about what you can do with the church. You can call me or email me any time! Let's do prayer together!
- Reverend Dave
reverenddaveledford@gmail.com
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