A preacher was to perform a wedding on the following Saturday but decided to call the couple forward in church to pray for them. For the life of him, he couldn’t think of their names. So, he said to the congregation, “Will those wanting to get married please come to the front?” Immediately, nine single ladies, three widows, four widowers, and six single men stepped to the front.
When you think about it, it isn’t surprising that the deepest desires of the heart actually sit close to the surface of us all. What we desire is what we think about. The more intense the desire, the more time and energy we devote to the pursuit of it.
There is no clearer an indicator of spiritual health than your prayer list. If its daily content is vague and drifting, then it is likely that your real concerns are not being put before the Lord in any meaningful fashion. Instead, those real concerns will only be brought before the Lord in times of desperation. Naturally, God will answer these desperate prayers according to your best interests, but as a loving Father, He will bring discipline to bear upon your less-than-ideal manner of prayer. Maturity in prayer shows maturity in faith.
The devil, if you let him, will keep your mind fixed on the cares of tomorrow. Most of these cares may well be the legitimate needs of church, family, and work. The problem being that if the cares of tomorrow are not prayerfully given into the hands of the Lord today, you will lose sight of the Provider of providence. Do you really believe that your anxious thoughts can out-provide the Giver of all good things? God promises that if you ask you will receive – For what exactly are you asking?
John Staiger
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