Tuesday, June 16

I remember reading a quote that says, “Discipline is the difference between good and great.” Discipline is developing the willpower to act in accordance with rules or developing the willpower to do what is right for example: doing exercise and eating the right foods. Discipline usually implies developing the willpower to do something you would otherwise not do. For many years I’ve approached my prayer live as a spiritual discipline because I don’t only want to be good at praying I want to be great. So when I’m disciplined in my prayer life I feel good about myself but when I neglect my prayer life guilt sets in because I’m being undisciplined.  For many years that is what my prayer life looked like … sometimes disciplined and other times undisciplined.

For many years my undisciplined prayer life bothered me so much so that when I prayed there was a certain guilt associated with my prayers. Because even though I’m being “spiritually disciplined” it wasn’t something that came natural to me. Yes, prayer comes naturally when you’re in some kind of danger or want something from God. But the daily commitment to spend time praying did not come naturally to me. That is until I realized that as a Christian, prayer should not be looked at as a spiritual discipline but rather as a blessing, prayer is not a spiritual discipline, prayer is a spiritual privilege.  The privilege to speak with God is a special benefit and an advantage that has been granted to us as followers of Jesus.

I no longer pray because I’m supposed to be spiritually disciplined; now I pray because it’s a privilege. Let me mention a few of those privileges:

That privilege to come to God just the way I am.

My shortcomings in life are no longer an obstacle to prayer but rather the reason I pray. I don’t know about you but when I prayed the way I use to feel about my prayers depended on the way I felt about myself. If I was a good Christian then I felt good about praying, if I wasn’t a good Christian then my prayers were full of guilt or I just avoided praying. There is something so liberating about being able to speak to someone exactly what’s in your heart and mind. That’s one of the privileges of prayer. You can be totally honest with God without any fear of being rejected or judged, because God knows who you are and there’s nothing we can tell Him that he doesn’t already know.

The privilege of getting to know God in the context of who I am.

When we pray God already knows who we are, what we’ve done, what we’ve said, what we’re thinking and where we’ve been. He even knows your future. God knows us better than we know ourselves. It’s in the context of who you are that you begin to discover who God is in an intimate and personal way. It’s when you come to Him just the way you are and speak the unspeakable words, those words you would dare not speak to anyone else, that is when you truly begin to discover God’s grace, mercies, compassion and truthfulness. That is when you begin to discover who God is. Through the Bible we are informed about God but through prayer that information becomes the revelation and the knowledge of who God is. Through prayer I’m able to express who I am and who I am not and it’s in this context where I discover who God is.

The privilege of coming to the source of everything that is good.

When we pray we’re actually drawing close to the source of everything that is good. When we neglect praying we’re actually distancing ourselves from the source of everything that is good. God is the source of, love, joy, peace, prosperity and everything that is good.

Jeremiah 29:11-14

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord.

It’s simple, praying is not a spiritual discipline praying is a non-deserved privilege from above.

Heavenly Father, it is such a privilege to be able to approach you in prayer. In your presence, nothing else matters, nothing comes close to the blessing of being with you. Lord, draw me close to you on good days, on bad days, no matter what’s going on in my life.

Summer of Prayer

Throughout the entire month of June and July

Special Father’s Day Service

This Sunday June 21

Summer Series

“POWER”

Starts June 28th