Jesus always took time to pray. He wanted to hear His Father’s voice, in solitude and peace. He looked for and cherished that quietness. A time, when He could clear His mind and be strengthened by God’s voice, giving Him direction and courage. A time when He could withdraw from the cares and clamor of the world.
Jesus had to have time with God and so must we. We must make time to be alone with the Father for prayer and meditation and to hear His voice, and get direction. It is a time some people have called – “God Time.”
Prayer is merely talking to God; an ongoing conversation between God and ourselves. It can be open, peaceful, enjoyable, challenging, insightful, and transformative.
Talking to God is never to be a chore. Our talking to God and God talking to us is the core of prayer: Our talking, listening, sharing a life with God, opening up our heart, minds and our souls is to be in one with Him.
Like any other practice, it gets easier the more we do it and essential to our daily lives. Prayer leads us to reach out, to understand that we can trust God, depend on God, and know that God will lead us the right way.
Today more than ever, we need to get away to a quiet place and invite God for some ‘God Talk,’ and open our hearts and minds, and commit to God, to do whatever He calls us to do.
We don’t have to use a lot of fancy words when we pray. God knows what is in our hearts. Let our minds, hearts, be open and our ears listening. The more we talk to God, the closer we will be to Him, hearing His call to us.
As this is the beginning of Black History month I offer this prayer:
Compassionate God, who sent Jesus Christ to deliver us from all manner of injustices and inequalities, create in us new hearts and enlarged visions, to see the image of God in every person irrespective of background, race, gender or ethnicity. May we be generous in our love of others as we work towards ending racism and injustice; creating communities of human flourishing, through Jesus Christ your son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
