Dear SCC & Friends,
Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God…~Matt. 6:6 (The Message)
Update #40
The first time I remember praying fervently was out of my need. My dad was an infantry officer in the army, and it looked like he might be going off to a potential war in the Middle East. I was nine-years old, and when I heard about it, I got off by myself and told the Lord I couldn’t make it without my dad. I knew some kids that didn’t have a dad, but I was a kid who absolutely needed him to be safe, because I wouldn’t be able to find my way without him…Never too young to pray fervently. My dad didn’t go, and as far as I’m concerned, the Lord answered my prayers and protected my father. Years later, he put his hands on my shoulders and prayed for me as I went off to war.
Our faith journey is really a prayer story. Prayer is effective with the Lord regardless of international tensions, social upheaval or political milieus. Prayer is our modus operandi to seek, knock and ask. There is nothing too big to pray about, and nothing is too small. Most of my early prayer life was self-centered towards the Lord providing and getting me out of a jam. It still can be that way, but now by His grace, prayer for others has broadened and deepened my life with the Lord. We’re never too young or too old to pray fervently…The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. ~James 5:16
Six decades later, there has been a lot of prayers…all kinds – “pop-corn prayers”, scripted prayers, prayer vigils, prayer and fasting, prayer meetings, prayer conferences and ongoing intercessory prayer – But the best place for me has always been the prayer closet…The inner room is a place everybody agrees with, but few go to it. It’s so quiet, even uncomfortable, and we only get there by intentionality. It is a place to be still and know He is God…It is a place of open and honest communication from us to Him, and a place where He assures us that we belong to Him. The Lord is working in these COVID times, and the inner room is a good place to be. Keep up the good work!
“O come let us adore Him”
Kevin