Welcome to all those in day #2 of the ABIDE! Challenge. I pray that this would be a day where you draw even closer to Jesus!
Today, I would like to draw our attention to something in James 5:17 -
"Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain"
What does it mean to pray "fervently"? Literally, it means that "praying, he prayed." That may not seem to make sense at first, but think about it for a moment. Have you ever listened to someone who was talking to you only to realize that you zoned out and missed what they had just said? Of course we would never admit that, I think we've all been there. What happened in that moment? You may have heard what they were saying, but you weren't listening to them. When Elijah prayed for the rain, he didn't just say a prayer. He really prayed. He prayed with conviction. he prayed with his heart in it.
As you go through this ABIDE! Challenge, don't just pray. But rather, praying, may you pray! Rumbling through a list of "God, bless Grandma" all week won't leave you sensing the presence of God. Prayer is not just an exercise - it is talking to the Creator and Sustainer of all things.
I think it would be a blessing to sit down and have lunch with Alistair Begg. I can't imagine sitting down with him over lunch and "zoning out" while he talked to me. And I can't imagine half-heartedly answering questions he would ask of me. I would be fully engaged in the conversation. If that is true of how I would interact with a man, how much more should I be fully engaged when I commune with Almighty God?
Today, don't just pray, but praying, pray.
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