pray without ceasing
I have always heard the Scripture that tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) but never knew how that was possible; never had experience. Tonight at 2:20 am I received an IM from my best friend, Danny, and his wife, Anais, who is 9 months pregnant. She began having contractions and they told me this may be the night.
As I have been reading through the book of Genesis it has become impressed upon me how the great leaders of God's movement throughout history have been in such close relationship with Him that they not only walk and talk with Him and make him dinner (Genesis 18:8) but that they also speak His promises to His people. I think this becomes possible because when you can fully immerse yourself in the presence of God, nothing else is able to compete for your mind.
At 2:20 am I began to pray for my best friend, that he be a man who leads his family to deep intimacy with God, being a role model for his new baby boy; for Anais, that she have an easy birth, first and foremost, that she would be a loving a nurturing mother who will be a model of a Godly woman so that her son will know the beauty of a woman who loves God passionately; for their marriage, that it be strenghthened with the birth of their first son; for #3 (the baby's temporary name), that he grow up to be a man who follows God with all he is and that he become a man who leads people toward God's activity here on earth.
I fell asleep and I continued to pray. I have never been able to pray without ceasing until tonight. My heart and my mind have been so focused on Danny, Anais, and #3 and asking God to be with them and strenghthen them and grow them, that I, for the first time in my life, have been able to focus entirely on Him. It is now 7:53 am and I have not stopped praying. Now the goal is to remember that God is always this close and to try to remain this focused on Him.
As I have been reading through the book of Genesis it has become impressed upon me how the great leaders of God's movement throughout history have been in such close relationship with Him that they not only walk and talk with Him and make him dinner (Genesis 18:8) but that they also speak His promises to His people. I think this becomes possible because when you can fully immerse yourself in the presence of God, nothing else is able to compete for your mind.
At 2:20 am I began to pray for my best friend, that he be a man who leads his family to deep intimacy with God, being a role model for his new baby boy; for Anais, that she have an easy birth, first and foremost, that she would be a loving a nurturing mother who will be a model of a Godly woman so that her son will know the beauty of a woman who loves God passionately; for their marriage, that it be strenghthened with the birth of their first son; for #3 (the baby's temporary name), that he grow up to be a man who follows God with all he is and that he become a man who leads people toward God's activity here on earth.
I fell asleep and I continued to pray. I have never been able to pray without ceasing until tonight. My heart and my mind have been so focused on Danny, Anais, and #3 and asking God to be with them and strenghthen them and grow them, that I, for the first time in my life, have been able to focus entirely on Him. It is now 7:53 am and I have not stopped praying. Now the goal is to remember that God is always this close and to try to remain this focused on Him.
posted by Michael Anthony | 6:23 AM
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