Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12
“Why is there so little anxiety to get time to pray? Why is there so little forethought in the laying out of time and employments so as to secure a large portion of each day for prayer?
Why is there so much speaking, yet so little prayer? Why is there so much running to and fro, yet so little prayer? Why so much bustle and business, yet so little prayer? Why so many meetings with our fellow men, yet so few meetings with God?
Why so little being alone, so little thirsting of the soul for the calm, sweet hours of unbroken solitude, when God and His child hold fellowship together as if they could never part?
It is the want of these solitary hours that not only injures our own growth in grace but makes us such unprofitable members of the Church of Christ, and that renders our lives useless.”
Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) in “Time For Everything But Prayer” from Winners of Souls in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 315.
Bonar was a Scottish preacher who exhorted people to avoid rendering their lives useless by being people of prayer. It’s a powerful notion to think that if we are not spending much time in prayer that our contribution, our lives, are useless.
How much time do you spend in prayer each day?
One thing with Covid is that my physical capacities are diminished. My mind is a bit hazy at times too. But I am learning that I can pray. Often when I do I sense God whispering to me in reply as I sit in stillness. His words are filled with peace and hope.
God help me grow more faithful in prayer so that I may be more useful for you. Amen.