“Then I pray to you, O Lord, I say, You are my place of refuge, You are all I really want in life.”
~ Psalm 142:5 (NLT)
Herbert Lockyer wrote a story about an older gentleman who was a minister. The story went like this: The minister asked a prayerful servant girl about her understanding of Paul's counsel regarding continuously praying. The minister asked her how she could pray all the time when she had so many things to do.
The servant girl replied: “...the more I have to do, the more I pray. When I awake in the morning, I pray, Lord, open the eyes of my understanding. While I am dressing, I pray that I may be clothed with the robe of righteousness. When I have washed, I ask, for the cleansing of the blood. As I begin my work, I pray for strength equal for my day. As I sweep the floors, I pray God to sweep all dirt from my heart with His besom (a broom of twigs). Then, as I prepare the meals, I ask God to feed with His manna and the sincere milk of the Word. When busy caring for the little children in the house, I ask my heavenly Father to carry me as His child. And so, on through the day, Sir, everything I do furnishes me with a thought for prayer.”
The older minister was astounded and said: “Well, Mary, you have certainly learned how to pray without ceasing.”
Praying is our way of communicating with God, and that is exactly what Mary was doing all day long as she plugged away working. Praying came naturally to her, and it focused her mind and heart away from her work and onto Him. As she prayed she drew close to the Lord, and that is where she found her greatest blessings. She found the hidden power of God.
The Book of Psalms are full of examples of the authors communicating with God. They were written between 1440 B.C. - 586 B.C. Some researchers describe them as a group of “song-prayers”. Throughout the Psalms they frequently express a person's feeling and emotions, and also bring them into God's presence. They are an illustration to God's people of how they can converse with Him in prayer. A few examples in them are: praising God; being thankful to God; expressing sorrow; confession; and asking for God's help/guidance in times of trouble.
St. Augustine expressed the hope that when Jesus Christ appeared for his translation He would find him either praying or preaching. May it be so for all of God's people.
Lord, accept our prayers as incense offered to you, and our upraised hands as an offering. Amen.
In Jesus,
Cap'n Kenny
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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation®, NLT® copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
A minister asked a prayerful servant girl how she could pray all the time when she had so many things to do.
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