These Days Devotional for August 22

I wrote a week's worth of devotionals for the devotional guide These Days.  This week is when they are in the book, so I thought I would share them here as well.

Scripture: Luke 11:1-4

Pray Without Ceasing

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray”

Luke 11:1

Did they want to find some way to be as close to God as Jesus was? Did they think there was some source of power they could access? Or did they just know that prayer was vital to a healthy life? For whatever reason Jesus' disciples knew they wanted to pray. Do we have that desire in our lives?

If life in faith is life in community with God, then prayer is vital to our continued growth and health. It is in prayer that we build our relationship with God, that we open ourselves to God's presence, that we are renewed in spirit.

Prayer need not be fancy or elaborate. It has been suggested that the three basic prayers are: wow, thanks, and help. We start there.

Action Step: Paul encourages us to “pray without ceasing”. Today look for those chances to say WOW or THANKS or HELP. Then say them.

Source of Being, walk and talk with us each step of this day. Amen.