Dear SCC & Friends,
…your inner room… ~Matthew 6:6
Reflection #344
We are never too young or too old to pray… The first time I remember praying fervently was out of my need. It looked like my dad was going to be deployed to a war in the Middle East. I was only nine-years old, and when I heard about it, I got off by myself and told the Lord I couldn’t make it without my dad. I knew that some kids didn’t have a dad, but I was one kid who absolutely needed him to be secure, and I wouldn’t be able to make it without him. My dad didn’t go to that war, and as far as I’m concerned the Lord answered my prayers and protected my father. Thirteen years later, my dad put his hands on my shoulders and blessed me as I went off to war. The truth is our journey of faith is really a prayer story of the inner room… that safe and sacred place where we hide “under the shadow of His wings.” The Lord has made prayer our modus operandi to seek, knock and ask of Him… There is nothing too big to pray about, and nothing is too small… Any concern too small to be turned into prayer is too small to be a burden. ~Corrie ten Boom~
To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. ~Luther~ The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy… The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know… ~1 Tim. 2:1 MSG Prayers can be expressed in many ways – “pop-corn prayers”, scripted prayers, free prayer… also in many places… at church, at home, inside and outside…anywhere. My favorite place to pray has always been the inner room, which is a metaphor for “getting alone with God…” It is a place of refuge and strength, but all too often neglected… Why the neglect? Maybe the inner room is too quiet or uncomfortable, as it requires vulnerability and intentionality before the Lord. It is where we can be still and know He is God… It is a sacred place of tangible connection and intimacy… The inner room is there for all of us… But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. …Keep up the good work!
Made for these days,
Kevin