The Missing Link

This is not some scientific treatise on the origins of man but rather the missing link in my life in my relationship with God. That missing link is prayer.

It's not that I don't pray because I do. Prayer is just hard. I don't know why that is. Well, maybe I do. There is great power in prayer. So the enemy tries to distract me, to take away my focus. But I voice thank yous to God for all sorts of things and I pray for those whose names and faces cross my mind. Some form of prayer crosses my mind or my lips every day but concentrated, intentional prayer is not something I engage in on a regular basis.

Prayer doesn't have to be on my knees or with tears or with anguish of soul but sometimes it should be. Maybe I'm just too casual in my relationship with God. Kneeling in submission before a king or ruler is not something an American child learns. We're taught to grab hold of what we want, go for the gold, fight for our rights, pull ourselves up. But that doesn't work with the sovereign Lord, the King of kings, the Creator of the universe.

He doesn't ask me to grovel at His feet; He is my Father and His love for me is boundless. But He does expect me to honor Him above any human level of honor. He expects me to talk (pray) with Him - not TO Him all the time but WITH Him - giving Him opportunity to speak to me. He wants to encourage, strengthen, comfort, guide, support and care for me as only a father - a perfect Father - can. He wants me to live my life in complete trust of His grace and mercy and goodness toward me no matter what my circumstance may be.

The greatest part of the missing link of prayer for me is a lack of urgency, a sense of there's not much time. There is a complacency in me toward those I know who don't know Jesus. What else could it be if I am not willing to stand in the gap for them? If I am not willing to cry out with anguish of heart for God to save them?