Life without prayer is life without power
Once upon a time there was a shepherd who saw a monk approaching him, the shepherd ran towards the monk and said: "Father, teach me to pray." The monk named the sheep each with a word from the prayer “Our Father” so that the shepherd would not forget the prayer, and then he left the shepherd. After several weeks, when the monk passed along the river in a boat, he saw the shepherd running towards him along the water saying. “Father, Father, I've lost one of my sheep, I can not pray anymore”. The monk replied: “Go my son and pray whatever it is you remember”.
There are many of us who do not have a strong relationship with God and then not having the custom to pray. Either it is said that we have not learned to pray or simply that we do not have time for it. Praying does not have to be complicated, no, quite the contrary, it should be something simple so that with a few words one can sum up the purpose of ones prayer. You can pray in many different ways. Some sing out their prayer in form of hymns, while others have a communication with God in their heart and mind. See God as your Father when you pray, or if not as your Father, at least see him as your Friend. Just as you can tell anything to your best friend without feeling any discomfort, the same way will your Lord listen to you. Your Lord who is the only one who can, and will, help you.
Once upon a time there was an old man who was far away from God. He didn’t grow up with God in his life. And now he was ill and dying. He hadn’t read the Bible very often, or been to church, let alone pray. He had never learned how to pray, but he did hear that prayer wasn’t as difficult as he thought. All he had to do was to put up a chair and pretend that Jesus was sitting there. Then it suddenly became much easier to pray.[1]
There is nothing simpler and more peaceful than prayer. A life without prayer is a life without power and meaning. Just to say “Lord have mercy on me a sinner “ means so much more than many might think. So whoever you are, don’t ever say that you can’t pray. All of us have something in our hearts that we can give to God, and we are all in need of prayer. What we can learn from these short stories is that we do not have to be very knowledgeable or pray in a certain way to be heard. Prayer can often be a desire that we want to express or a thanksgiving that we want to present. Many of us have probably felt this way too without knowing that this expression or thanksgiving can be forms of prayer. Therefore, act as the old man or as the shepherd who, although he had lost a sheep and the prayer was not complete, he continued to pray. It will still be a prayer, as long as it comes from the depths of your heart.
There are many of us who do not have a strong relationship with God and then not having the custom to pray. Either it is said that we have not learned to pray or simply that we do not have time for it. Praying does not have to be complicated, no, quite the contrary, it should be something simple so that with a few words one can sum up the purpose of ones prayer. You can pray in many different ways. Some sing out their prayer in form of hymns, while others have a communication with God in their heart and mind. See God as your Father when you pray, or if not as your Father, at least see him as your Friend. Just as you can tell anything to your best friend without feeling any discomfort, the same way will your Lord listen to you. Your Lord who is the only one who can, and will, help you.
Once upon a time there was an old man who was far away from God. He didn’t grow up with God in his life. And now he was ill and dying. He hadn’t read the Bible very often, or been to church, let alone pray. He had never learned how to pray, but he did hear that prayer wasn’t as difficult as he thought. All he had to do was to put up a chair and pretend that Jesus was sitting there. Then it suddenly became much easier to pray.[1]
There is nothing simpler and more peaceful than prayer. A life without prayer is a life without power and meaning. Just to say “Lord have mercy on me a sinner “ means so much more than many might think. So whoever you are, don’t ever say that you can’t pray. All of us have something in our hearts that we can give to God, and we are all in need of prayer. What we can learn from these short stories is that we do not have to be very knowledgeable or pray in a certain way to be heard. Prayer can often be a desire that we want to express or a thanksgiving that we want to present. Many of us have probably felt this way too without knowing that this expression or thanksgiving can be forms of prayer. Therefore, act as the old man or as the shepherd who, although he had lost a sheep and the prayer was not complete, he continued to pray. It will still be a prayer, as long as it comes from the depths of your heart.
The secret of grace:
It is never too late
It is never too late
By: David Özmen, The Writing group
Source: Reftel, K, 2004. Alltid älskad 2. Argument Förlag AB.
[1] Kristina Reftel (2004)
source: http://www.melthodhaye.com/default.asp?itemID=173&itemTitle=A
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