A DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT by Pastor Scott
I believe prayer is our opportunity to be in the presence of our heavenly Father. It not only places us before him, but in a most private way, opens secret avenues of correspondence with Him, because of the Son, by means of the Holy Spirit. In that respect I stand in awe of God. Oh, how He loves us!
I also stand in disappointment with myself for my lack of seeking prayer as an ongoing relationship with such a God.
“But,” you say, “It just isn’t practical, I am busy, I don’t know what to say, I never hear anything, it takes time and I have so many other things to do.”
Prayer is difficult. Largely because we make it so by erecting barriers to keep us from our Creator.
The Psalmist wrote:
"Thou hast said to me 'Seek ye my face,' my Heart says to thee, 'Thy face Lord, do I seek.'” Psalm 27:8
Jesus taught his disciples to call upon God as their Father, not as an object, not as a provider of goods, but a father whose desire is to love them and to know them.
Soren Kierkegaard told: “A man prayed and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet, until in the end he realized that prayer was listening.”
I have a little prayer exercise that I use from time to time when I find myself needing to be in God’s presence. I find a quiet place, kneel and close my eyes. I imagine myself before two large doors. They open and before me is a long carpet leading to a magnificent throne. I am shaken by its magnitude but more by the one on the throne. It is Creator God. I tremble, I have no business being there except that I am holding tightly onto a hand. The hand I clasp is that of my Savior, my friend, Jesus. I bow and am silent.
This helps me to recognize God’s majesty, my confidence in Christ, and my need to be silent.
R. A. Torey in his classic little book on prayer, How to Pray, wrote: “I want to have fellowship with Him, and to that end I have ask the Father that whatever He may make me, to make me at all events an intercessor, to make me a man who knows how to pray, and who spends much time in prayer.”
The Lord says, “Seek ye my face.”
He means, draw near to me, enter into a much closer relationship with me. Stand face to face with me, look into my eyes, look into my heart.
It is this invitation which I on behalf of my master put to you now.
“Seek Ye My Face.”
