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August 23, 2005
Remember to Pray....
"Remember to Pray" has been a phrase that has haunted me. It's been written on our white board at home. Somone drew up a lesson on "Identity with God" and remembering to pray was one of the things.
This really irked me. Remembering to pray....
Not to insult anyone, but in my opinion, failing to remember to pray leads me to two possible conclusions.
1) People who fail to remember to pray are actually so un-involved in Kingdom development, advancment and growth that they don't need to pray.
Conversely, those who are meaningfully engaged in the Lord's work, do not need to remember to pray, it comes out naturally. You are at such a point in your task/life mission/calling that you realize instinctively (like breathing) that without prayer, the work can't be done or would fail. So if you think you are involved in the Lord's work but are forgetting to pray, I'd say you are deceived or idle or about stuff that is actually not important or not making an eternal difference.
2) People who fail to remember to pray are so filled with pride and self-reliance they feel (either cognitively or sub-consciencely) that prayer isn't important.
Just some thoughts on a little rant of mine.....
Prayer is like breathing, don't forget to do it!
Posted by mtriley at August 23, 2005 07:57 PM
Comments
And hence the comment "remember to pray" on your white board. Why did it irk you?
Posted by: Matt Heerema at August 24, 2005 09:11 AM
? It irked me because you shouldn't need to remember to pray. You don't have to remember to breathe do you? So I view it as a sort of oxy-moron.
Posted by: Michael T. Riley at August 24, 2005 02:34 PM
Maybe we need to be reminded to pray because we can tend to think that we can make it just fine without it... unlike air.
Posted by: Tim at August 25, 2005 12:17 AM
Yah, I guess the only difference is that breathing is a subconscious reflex. Doesn't require any thought or effort.
Prayer does. It requires an act of the will. Or perhaps more accurately, an act of the spirit.
Prayer is like breathing in its necessity and life-sustaining nature, but it is unlike breathing in that you have to choose to do it. And have to REMEMBER to do it...
Posted by: Matt Heerema at August 25, 2005 10:50 AM
Would a mother forget to feed her baby? (Well, if she abandoned it, yes.) Because the baby cries, she remembers to feed it. So, if I'm so involved in God's work, it cries out to me and I pray. I, in effect, don't need to be reminded to pray. I, only like the mother, need to be reminded when I abandon what it was I am obligated to.
Posted by: Michael T. Riley at August 29, 2005 12:36 PM
man, if only it were that simple.
Posted by: Matt at August 30, 2005 09:39 AM