HERE IT IS:

Prayer is ESSENTIAL.

HERE’S WHAT IT’S NOT:

A token of appreciation.

A “go-to” when we’re desperate.

A “wish list” of our wants.

A poetic gesture with magical consequences.

IF IT IS ESSENTIAL, then why does it often feel like an anomaly?

It doesn’t have to be.  The God of the Bible has given us this supernatural ability to communicate with Him, but unfortunately, it very often is a struggle and doesn’t come natural to us.  Because of our human condition we are desperately in need of this intimacy with our Creator, but find it difficult–often because of our own preconceived ideas.

There have been volumes written on this very subject, but I would like to simplify this very complex idea of communicating with God in a way…

Once a year we give out Bibles to our First Graders. It’s an exciting time for these young readers, and a delight to see their sweet faces as they take ownership of this new, treasured possession.  One of the young moms shared that her daughter was so excited that she couldn’t sleep the night before!  “Jesus loves me, this I know… for the Bible tells me so.”

My heart was just about to burst as I watched their reactions to this gift of God’s Word–most of them beaming, some of them cradling the book to their chest as though they would never let it go. One little girl immediately opened it to scour the pages, while another held it gingerly as though it might break.

I know for many of them it wasn’t their first Bible, but it took me down memory lane as I thought about my first Bible…