Spiritually Speaking… Pray through it, Not to it
By James Washington
Special to the Outlook
Have you succumbed to the notion yet that prayer will get you through it? The ‘it’ I’m referring to is EVERYTHING. If you’re like me, if the truth be told, at times you’re not very enthusiastic about your faith. That fire that initially burned in me when I finally met Christ leaves me more cold than hot and I cannot and do not remain constant or consistent in my journey towards eternal salvation, Have you ever been there? Even my prayer life is more often weak not strong. I’ve finally figured out at times like these that if I only do one thing, I have to continue to pray. However casual or cavalier I might think it is, if I do nothing else, I’ve learned that I’ve got to pray my way through it.
If you’ve ever been lost on a nameless highway and know that you’re lost, you probably understand what I’m talking about. No exit, no gas stations, no people or other cars around, no one to ask for directions. You just keep driving and you just keep looking, hoping against hope. It’s just you and the needle on the fuel gauge. Given yours and my circumstances, prayer is probably very appropriate when one is spiritually lost; especially when you are forced to acknowledge that you are lost. My word to you is to just keep praying.
At this stage of my spiritual development, I can’t think of an alternative. I just so happened to look up prayer in my Bible’s Concordance and found out that I’m correct in my assumption that prayer(s), pray(ed), praying, all hold a special place in spiritual history and in the eyes of God. For every quote I could give you right now, there are many of you who could quote at least three more appropriate ones for this message. James 5:15-16 “And prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you might be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
I will not sit here and profess to you to be a righteous man. What I will do is to profess to you and anyone who will listen that I am a sinner seeking God’s forgiveness. I am also on record as praying for you, my fellow man that you too, will understand God’s faithfulness. Mark 11:24-25 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” I’m not making this stuff up. This is what the text says. Hopefully, what I’m trying to convey to you is once I was lost. I’m sure I’ll get lost again and when it happens, prayer will continue to lead me home. It is an irrefutable spiritual fact. Try it. Speak to God from your heart. Let Him know that you know He knows you are lost. He will then step up and act out on your behalf proclaiming for all to see that you are never really lost and certainly never really alone. He has known where you were from the beginning of time.
May God bless and keep you always.
James,
jaws@dallasweekly.com
