Mama
Do you have a friend or family member you talk with daily? Is there anyone you seem to have a running conversation with?
My mom and I seem to have one conversation that has yet to end. We talk almost daily and we’ll even refer back to something one of us said days prior as if we’d just mentioned it. We’re so familiar with each other that we don’t even have to convey complete sentences to communicate. She’s not just my mom, she’s one of the best friends I’ve ever had.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says,
Pray without ceasing.”
When I was a child, I used to think,
“God, I talk a lot but that seems a bit difficult, even for me.”
Many, many years have passed by since my first encounter with that verse, and I’ve come to think of it a little differently.
To me, praying without ceasing is an ongoing conversation with a constant companion.
When something bad happens, He is the first one I talk with about it. When I notice something beautiful or amazing around me, I tell Him. When I’m overcome with emotion, He is who I turn to, even when words escape me. He understands every word, every thought, and every emotion.
In John 17:21, Jesus tells the Father He desires for us to be one with Him and the Father just as they are one with one another. That will be the result of of constant, abiding prayer, communion with one another.
Oswald Chambers said,
Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life.”
It is to be so much a part of who you are it is difficult to determine where it begins and ends. It doesn’t mean constantly talking. In fact, prayer should be more about listening and less about talking. God is constantly speaking to us, as we develop a deeper relationship with Him, we become more in tune with His voice and learn to hear Him, even in the midst of chaos around us.
What have you and God been talking about lately? If you can’t remember, it might be time for a conversation…. not with me, with Him.
I love what you said about praying without ceasing, and it’s so true! It makes me think of Laubach’s “Game with minutes” described in Draw the Circle by: Mark Batterson. I like how he plays a game each day trying to see how many people he can “shoot” with prayer.
If more people played that game, McLain, we’d live in a much better world!