Kneeling Christian

Last night, I started reading a book called "Kneeling Christian" by an unknown author. It was written years ago...but it speaks to my heart today. The basic theme of the book is talking about the importance of Christians kneeling in prayer...Thus, the title makes sense!

As I was reading, what really struck me was the authors call for Christians to pray more. Of course, he brought up the "pray without ceasing" passage of Scripture. However, he focused more on getting us into a time of prayer where we get serious with God. The author asked that the reader examine how much time they actually spend praying each day. Then, compare that to the amount of time we give to everything else in our daily lives! The author commented on how some in the church talk about praying at least ten minutes everyday. The author voices his disgust for just ten minutes of prayer. He says if we're serious about following God and truly receiving His blessings, we'll get serious about kneeling in prayer.

So, I started to think...How much time do I really spend in prayer each day? Then, compare that to how much time I spend reading, writing, watching TV, listening to music, and so on. Hmm. The author talks about how it doesn't really matter how long we read the Bible or how many church services we attend because those won't add up to much without a serious commitment to prayer.

I was reminded of my need to get serious about prayer. I need to spend a good portion of my day praying for the church, my wife, my family, my friend, those on the fringes...And, I need to take the time to listen while I pray. Sometimes I spend so much time talking that I'm too worn out to actually listen to what God might be saying in response.

Oh, one last thing I really like that the author said. He was talking about how the church really doesn't give serious time to real prayer. He sort of addressed how the prayers in our worship times are rather routine. He then talked of how many churches have weekly prayer meetings. He then said that maybe they should be called "weakly prayer meetings." Ever been to a prayer meeting? Did you spend the whole time in prayer?

Anyway, if you get a chance, you might check out this book. It's available for free at the CCEL site.