Pray

"Pray without ceasing" 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Jerry Jenkins, author of The Left Behind series, writes about an interview he did with Billy Graham.

Jerry  ”Tell me, at least, how you maintain your own spiritual disciplines.”

Billy Graham  “There’s no secret to that.  God doesn’t hide the key from us.  The Bible says to pray without ceasing and to search the Scriptures.  And I do that.”

Jerry writes:  And I flinched.  I had always hoped the Apostle Paul’s New Testament admonition to “pray without ceasing” was somehow figurative.  After two to three minutes of prayer, my mind tends to wander, and I find myself wondering whether the Cubs will ever see another World Series.

Jerry  “You pray without ceasing?

Billy Graham  “I do.  And I have, every waking moment since I received Christ as a teenager. I’m praying right now as I’m talking to you.  Praying that God will use this book, that it will be clear that it’s more about Him than about me, praying that we’ll both do our jobs well and that He will get the glory.”

Jerry (nearly speechless)  “And you searching the Scripture.  How does that work?”

Billy Graham  Wherever I am, at home in my office, or in a hotel room in some other country, the first thing I do in the morning is to leave my Bible open somewhere where I will notice it during the day.  I pick it up at odd moments and read a verse or two or a chapter or two or for an hour or two.  And this is not for study or sermon preparation.  This is just for my own spiritual nourishment.”

Jerry  “Say you miss a day or two.  How do you get back to your routine?”

Billy Graham  “Miss a day or two?  I don’t think I’ve ever done that.”
Jerry  “You never miss?”
Billy Graham  I told you.  This is my spiritual food.  I would no more miss this than a regular meal.”

 Jerry writes:  I went back to my hotel that day despairing that perhaps no reader could really identigy with a man so sold out to god and so disciplined in his inner life.  But then it hit me.  As he said, it’s no secret, no hidden key – God doesn’t make it hard or a mystery. When people wonder why billy Graham, among all those claiming the same passions, seems infinitely more blessed, more successful in his ministry effors, they need to realize there is a difference between him and the others: We all know we’re to pray and read out Bibles.  The difference is, he does it.

                                                         - taken from Jerry Jenkins' book Writing for the Soul

 

Hint of the day: Pray without ceasing.  If your prayer life could use a makeover...  If your mind wanders after just a few minutes...  If you think of God in the morning and again when it is bedtime...Then you need to practice prayer.  It is like a muscle - the more you use it, the stronger it gets.  If you pray for 10 minutes, push yourself to 15.  If you pray only in the morning, put cards around your house or work place with praise songs or scripture verses or listing God's attributes.  Prayer includes praise and thanksgiving.  These are probably the two easiest ways to expand your prayer life.  Then begin to pray for those you meet throughout your day.  Pray is just constant communication with God.  Don't say Dear God... or  Amen every time.  Leave it as an open conversation.