“And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you.” Luke 22:31-32
Prayer! I often ponder on the things that must sadden God as He considers us, His creation. He is constantly present, He is always listening, and He sees everything. If we could allow ourselves to grasp this truth we would live a lot differently as Christians. What would you think if you married the love of your life, a person that you would die for and have vowed to care for forever, and he/she never spoke to you—or, only spoke if they were in trouble and thus limited their verbal interaction with you to self-centered requests. That would be completely unacceptable, but this is how God must feel when we don’t put prayer in its proper place in our lives. God wants us to speak to Him constantly about all aspects of our lives, good or bad. He longs to be an active, daily part of our life through continual conversation. The power and importance of prayer is something that we, in Western society, have long denied and ignored. As a result, we struggle to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit within us, and, in failing to pray more, we reveal our lack of faith in God to handle our successes, failures and trials in life.