Words of Life: An Enduring Legacyনমুনা

Pray without ceasing.

When I first gave my life to Jesus, I thought that holiness was determined by the amount of time I spent in prayer. A friend and I would pray together at a specific time for an hour each week, and if we felt that we were running out of steam before the hour was up, we would think that our holiness was failing.

I know that David Yonggi Cho, the former pastor of the world’s largest church in Seoul, South Korea, had the capacity to spend his entire time on flights around the globe in prayer, and that he arranged his prayers into manageable segments, so that no matter how long the flight was, he could pray through the entire journey.

Not many of us have that sort of capacity, although it is good to aspire to this level of dedication. God desires that our lives be given to prayer, but he doesn’t demand that we do nothing else. He wants the engineer who is going to a difficult meeting to pray before – and perhaps during – the appointment, and for the teacher to do the same before their most difficult class of the week, and for the mum or dad who is collecting their children at the school gate to pray before trying to witness for Jesus to other parents.

Praying continually is less about praying during every waking moment, and more about bringing every event in our lives to God in prayer before, during and after they happen. We bring each part of our day to God so that each element of the day is guided by him.

The opportunities in the day ahead are for me to make the most of. I will do that best, Lord, if every segment of the day is handed to you for your blessing and guidance. Amen.