Did ya know that our prayers are offerings to the Lord?
Check out this verse in Acts:
Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked. The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. (Acts 10:4)Most Roman soldiers had nothing but contempt for the people that they conquered. But we see an amazing contrast in Cornelius.... he was not only devoid of prejudice, but he had adopted the God of the Jews, rejecting the polytheism of the majority of the Romans. He abandoned all of the gods of Rome and worshiped Jehovah.
The angel paid him a huge compliment. Commentaries note that the word used means that Cornelius prayed "always" or "continually." Those prayers had come up as an offering to God.
For us as believers, praying should come as naturally as breathing. But I'm guessing that many of us are just like me.....I don't think I would compare favorably with Cornelius! Some of us only pray during worship services. Some of us ask a blessing at meals, and it stops there. Some of us might actually start and end the day with prayer. But how many of us "pray without ceasing"?
Seriously.
Pray all day? Is that what that means? How am I going to do anything else?
Calm down, OK? (Grin)
Pray without ceasing does not mean that we are on our knees from when we wake to when we fall into bed. It means that a sense of depending on God is with us in all that we do. I think it means that we pray repeatedly and often.....as natural as breathing, right?
And, I think it means that we don't give up on prayer. We should never, ever come to a point where we cease to pray at all. God is a God of hope -- don't ever think there is no use in praying! Go on praying. Don't cease. Don't give up.
Our lives are busy. I know just how hectic it can be. But being a child of God, we know that our priorities are different from other folks. (Grin) We need to put our relationship with God at the top of the list.
Prayer is worship, and our Father is worthy of our praise and our thanksgiving.
Let's be like Cornelius!
Please feel free to leave a comment with a prayer request or a praise!
Not a prayer request, but praises. We spent this past weekend camping with family and our grandson for his birthday. The weather wasn’t the greatest, but we had a wonderful time. We managed a couple of walks through the woods and along the lake and across the boardwalks through some wetlands. The trees are just starting to leaf out and the birdsong was glorious. And just now sitting here by the window with my computer, a beautiful bright red cardinal came by the window, eating the seeds that the rain caused o fall onto the patio. So much beauty in this world that our Lord created.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe I will leave a prayer request about that grandson I mentioned. He is in the public school system, and being taught so many things directly opposed to all that God has revealed. Please pray that the Lord would place a hedge of protection around him and bring him to know the Lord early and to desire to follow Him always.
ReplyDeleteI think I come close to prayer without cease...I think.
ReplyDelete