Pray

"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:24) "Never stop praying." (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

       I wish we understood the power and importance of prayer. Stop for a moment and go back to the beginning of creation. Understand that it was God's original intent from the very start to have a relationship with us. A pure unadulterated relationship where He could walk among us and talk with us continually. Yet sin tarnished that and a holy God could not walk among unholy people.

       In all this there was still a life line. So desirous to communicate with us, God opened up the avenue of prayer whereby we'd have continual access to Him, and share with Him our desires. Before Jesus, this access was through a mediator (the high priest), but after Jesus (the true high priest) we now have access directly to the Father through the Son. If it isn't apparent to you how badly God wanted to communicate with you, He gave His son so that there would no longer be a barrier (mediator) in our relationship with Him. (talk about moving heaven and earth)

         Somehow we don't realize this, and we neglect the true essence of prayer. We forget that He longs to be with us, and spend time with us, more than any partner in any relationship could ever want. He desires to satisfy us in the truest deepest level possible, and give us things beyond our wildest imagination, if we only desired the same with Him. I guess the simplest way to break this down is what I said last week to a group of our interns at church, "If we were promised free unlimited minutes, that would give us access to unlimited power wouldn't we take advantage of that offer?" God is waiting for us, it's our choice to move towards Him. Prayer is the tool.