Prayer is the most essential component to our relationship with the Almighty. Through Jesus we are allowed the opportunity to speak directly to God himself. Prayer is our life line for forgiveness, hope, mercy and grace. God made prayer extremely simple for us. It can be done anywhere, anytime with anyone yet we allow ourselves to become distracted with this silly world and sometimes forget to set aside time to pray.
Over in Matthew, Christ calls out the church leaders as he strategically tends to do. He tells them they are like the whitewashed tombs scattered across the countryside. They appear beautiful when really they are nothing more than a pile of dead men’s bones. When you and I become content with a non-existent prayer life; we too are beautiful on the outside……dead on the inside.
I love working with our high school group at church! It’s impressive to watch their growing minds interact with the word of God as they grasp scripture and apply it to their lives. Sometimes they ask innocent questions that feel easy to answer. Sometimes they ask challenging questions that require more in depth conversation. My favorite questions are the ones that make me scratch my head and humbly respond, “I don’t know.”
After a class discussion about prayer, the children were asked,
How can you work on your prayer life this week?
Our class comedian answered without hesitation,
“Well……. If you live in west Tennessee, you can just pray every time you pass a Dollar General and you will be praying all day. “
WHAT ?
Here in small town Tennessee, there is a Dollar General on every corner!
In an instant, I began to think about the number of times I drive by Dollar General in one day. I pass the one by my house on the way to school drop off. Then I pass the same one as I drive back home. I repeat that on pick up at the end of the day so that would equate to four prayers.
There are two more Dollar Generals on the way into town. I’ll pass those again when I come home. That makes four more prayers!
When I got to thinking about all my daily errands, I’m going to pass Dollar General about ten times. At that rate, I’m praying ALL day! It’s pure genius when you think about it!
At the suggestion of a brilliant teenage mind, I started praying every time I drove past a Dollar General. It was light and airy at first. I just said ‘Hello there!’ and laughed with God about how many Dollar Generals we actually have. Our conversations throughout the day became deeper and more powerful. I didn’t realize I’d been saving those conversations for late at night and I’d been missing out on the heart felt intensity of taking my praises and concerns to God right away!
This morning as I passed the Dollar General, I simply shut my mouth listened!!! Who would have thought the light of bright yellow convenience store sign could actually mature a person’s prayer life.
What is your prayer life like? Are your hands clasped with eyes closed each night before bed? Do you maintain appropriate posture by kneeling? Do you tend to pray only when you want something or while life is falling apart around you? Do you spend too much time perfecting your tone of voice as you speak carefully chosen words without stopping to listen?
We are not white washed tombs full of dead men’s bones!!!! We are alive and full of hope. We are precious children of God humbly growing and seeking to know Him more and more each day. Improving our prayer life is a step in the right direction.
Pick a local store or restaurant. You could even pick a category like ‘gas stations’ and start praying each time you pass today. I’d love to hear how your prayer life improves.
Christ be with you until we meet again !
One Comment
Lauren
I love this. I will have to give this a try! 🙂