We sang of my favorite songs in church today: O Come Let Us Adore Him. Perhaps as you read the name of that familiar Christmas song the melody began to play in your head. Does it seem of place in the heat of August? Yet, every word is fitting for all occasions:

O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord

For You alone are worthy
For You alone are worthy
For You alone are worthy
Christ the Lord

We’ll give You all the glory
We’ll give You all the glory
We’ll give You all the glory
Christ the Lord

As awkward as it seemed singing that song in August, it was a great reminder that we are to praise God at all times. Even in our awkward moments, like this morning when I was irritated because we were late for church. My wife gently suggested we pray. It felt awkward. But it was the right thing to do then, and always.

Your thoughts? How inclined are you toward praise in your awkward moments?

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As a business consultant for over 15 years now, I’ve learned that successful consultants possess two important attributes. The first, not surprisingly, is competence. Firms hire you because you have an expertise that can benefit them in some way. Without it, you can’t even get in the door. No expertise, no access. The second attribute, though, is probably more important. Confidence. Confidence is the willingness to move into the unknown believing in a positive outcome. And here’s where many would-be successful consultants fail. They have competence, but, in the face of a business challenge they’ve not seen before, they lack confidence they can perform the work. And it shows in their presentation to the prospective client. They got the access, but they didn’t get the account.

When I read this verse in Ephesians, it occurred to me that God is giving us both. By faith, borne of His amazing grace, we have freedom to approach the Holy One just as we are. His love overcomes our incompetence to gain access to heaven on our own. What’s more, He invites to approach Him with confidence. Confidence not in our competencies, but in His character. We have a loving Father that desires to open the storehouses of His account to us. (Phil 4:19) As the Apostle John wrote, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15)

Your thoughts? How’s your confidence level today?

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It is right to wait expectantly on God when we pray. So often, however, our prayers can secretly have a cynical cast; “I want you to do this for me God, but I’m not holding my breath.” And so, having said a perfunctory prayer, we trudge on, trying to make the best of a situation absent of any real faith that God will be any part of the solution. After some time, we may cease praying about our situation altogether. Our challenge becomes just one of the many we have to attend to by ourselves. Or, out of our anxiety or a demanding spirit, we turn to others in hope for rescue. Yet, something remarkable happens when we pray expectantly, as David did in the Psalms. When we truly believe that God desires to answer our prayer, we become sensitized to His presence in our lives. Things we may not have otherwise noticed become pronounced. Joy within us grows as we begin to see Him working in and through us bring about His answer, though not necessarily as we might have conceived it when we asked. And that’s the remarkable part, for God delights to reveal Himself to those who earnestly seek Him (Heb 11:6). Prayer without expectation of a deeper relationship with God is nothing more than making a shopping list, without concern for who gives us what we want.

Your thoughts? Are you praying with that kind of expectancy today?

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Do you start your prayer time by talking? I often do. There are many things in my life for which I need His divine intervention and guidance. I have my to-do list for God and I rarely hesitate bringing it to Him. Jesus encouraged us to ask freely (Matt 7:7), but He also said that His sheep know and listen to His voice (John 10:27). How can I possibly hear what God wants for me if my prayer time is merely a filibuster of what I want from Him? The verse that follows in Ecclesiastes is a good reminder: “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” (Eccl 5:2)

Your thoughts? What are ways you’ve found to help you better hear from God?

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I’m sure you’ve heard it said that we serve a God who hears our prayers. But have you ever thought about the fact that He is a God who also listens? As an omniscient God who knows everything, He never needs to listen to us—He already knows our thoughts even before we think them. Yet, God still delights in listening to us as we pour out our hearts to Him. Never once will God say to us in a condescending way, “You’ve told Me this before,” or “If you’ve told Me once, you’ve told Me a million times.” No topic ever gets too old for God to listen to—He never grows weary of our prayers. Instead, He embraces us, choosing to listen to us with grace and compassion as we reveal to Him what He already knows. What a testament to God’s insurmountable love and patience!

Your thoughts? How might the idea of an attentive God change your prayer life?

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There are times when a burden is so great, so seemingly insurmountable, that it totally saps our strength. Out of exhaustion and a spirit of surrender we may declare, “There’s nothing I can do now but pray.” It sounds admirable, even spiritual. However, implied in that common expression is a belief that God’s domain is everything I can’t handle on my own. Yet, the Bible says we are to surrender all of our concerns to Him because He cares for us (1 Pet 5:7). This is an act of worship. When we make every concern a matter of prayer, not only does it liberates us of the burden, but it welcomes God’s presence into all of our endeavors.

Your thoughts? Is there a concern you’ve unwittingly allowed to become a burden?

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Not too long ago I was hit with a different kind of awareness campaign.

It started innocently enough on a quick trip to my local Walmart store to pick up something for a home repair project. Normally, I would have rushed in for what I needed and gotten out of there as quickly as possible. This visit was different.

Upon entering the store, the Spirit prompted me to pray silently for everyone I saw. That exercise awakened me. Slowing down to pray for them made me more aware of how much I would have missed had I gone about my normal business. I would have missed seeing the bored elderly man accompanying his wife as she shopped. “I’ve been there, Lord. Give him joy in the suffering!” I would have missed the employee replenishing empty shelves with cans encased in towers of boxes beside him. “Lord, enrich his shelf from your storehouse of blessing.” And, I would have missed the joy I felt from praying for the mom standing in front of me at the checkout line, exasperated as her two small children incessantly cried for the candy they attempted to snatch from nearby shelves. “Lord, give this woman your grace and peace. May her children grow to know and love You.”

Only God knows what effect those prayers may have had on their lives, but I know what effect they had on me. An errand to repair my house became God’s errand to repair me. Smacked right on my heart was His bumper sticker: “Start Seeing People.”

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.” – 2 Corinthians 5:16

Adopt the “Start Seeing People” campaign by visiting a public setting in an attitude of prayer. Report back your results here.

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What better way to begin this day, than to jump on the bike for a long ride?  I was glad I hauled it along for our two week vacation from the deep freeze.  So I set out, with one goal — to pray during the entire thirty-one mile route.

That distance is not hard when you do it regularly.  Unfortunately, it had been too many months since I was last out.  So, the first five miles were easier on prayer than they were on the legs.  ”Lord, help my legs!”  A simple plea thrown in between pedal strokes and prayers of intercession for others.

Soon, I was warmed up and feeling better.  I also found myself drifting from a spirit of prayer into thoughts of work, the trip back home, the electrical short in my basement that occurred just before I left.  Thinking about anything was easier  than what I had set my mind to do.

Abruptly and out loud, I halted the mental cacophony, “Back to You, Jesus.”  Somehow that declaration brought me back to the Throne Room and I felt joy again as I resumed my time of prayer.  For a few more pedals at least.  Then more rushing thoughts.  Things to do.  Brilliant product ideas.  ”Geez, I need to capture these somehow.”  Once more, “Back to You, Jesus.”  I must have made that declaration nearly a dozen times during that ride.

I remember long ago reading the marvelous book The Fight, by John White, and his suggestion to thank God when we discover we’ve drifted in prayer because that discovery is really His hand of rescue.  We would naturally drift forever were it not for God’s grace bringing us the awareness of our disconnection.

Reflecting on that ride, I came to the realization that my declaration needs to be applied to more than my interrupted prayer times.  When I get discouraged that a business deal I was counting on, didn’t happen, its “Back to You, Jesus.”  When my car breaks down and costs me more time and money than I can afford, its “Back to You, Jesus.”  And when I received praise from someone for something I did, its “Back to You, Jesus.”

Yes, there’s no doubt 2009 will have it’s challenges.  My choice is to give it back to Jesus.  I’ve declared it to be my theme for this year.  ”For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To Him be the glory forever! Amen!” (Romans 11:36 NIV)

SOUND OFF:  What’s your theme for 2009?

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