God's Showcase Window#
I have long admired prayer warriors - those who I know who can be relied on to pray so regularly. I have also long admired those who offer full and wonderful prayers in public places, often spontaneously. It is simple to be disheartened in the face of such wonderful examples of prayer in practice.
For me, most prayer is spontaneous and conversational - mostly a quick thanks to God, but spiced with adulation, requests and confession.
One discipline that helps me pray is to have a trigger point when I walk. It is not a place in the midst of sweeping mountains; nor is it a place beside a thunderous and majestic waterfall, or with panoramic views of roaming wildebeests and zebras - but it is a pretty place and it is near my home.
My trigger point has witnessed the red tinges of nearby bushfires, the black threat of thunderclouds, the smothering canopy of dust storms, and countless beautiful blue skies. It is a place where I discipline myself to stop; to be still that I may know that He is God.
Sometimes I pause for a moment; sometimes longer. I pause when I walk with my wife and I pause when I walk with the Grandkids. We call it "God's Showcase Window".
I chat to God about the day and comment on what He has prepared in His showcase. There are always ducks and other wildlife. There are sometimes other people walking by. There is water, trees and the sky: All the things I/we just take for granted.
In that brief window, God peels back the clouded clutter of my preoccupation with self, generously making the invisible briefly visible.
"For since the Creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse". (Romans 1:20)
I think there is a place for disciplined prayer warriors - I pray that I will get better at that. There is also a place for inspirational public prayer - those who do it well need to continue the inspiration for the rest of us.
I think there is also a place for conversational prayer, and perhaps for a little trigger point like "God's Showcase Window", which is now hard to walk past without pause.
Prayer, after all, is conversation with God. I enjoy conversations with my kids. It is not so much the quality of what they say, or even how often they say it. It is just that they take the time to chat. I would hate it if they walked past me each day and said nothing. I suspect that my Father in Heaven feels pretty much the same.#
Today's Soul Snippet:
'When truth is thrown to the ground, deceit is fed very well.' ~ anon
Today's SoulSnack was graciously submitted by a subscriber.