"Knocking on the Door of Prayer"

Lately I have been knocking on a lot of doors. It's part of my new job and my new season of my life. And while I was at work the other day, approaching a door, I realized something!
     Knocking on a door doesn't happen by accident. It is intentional! You walk right up to the door you want opened, and make yourself heard!
     The situation determines how you knock. If the circumstances of life are noisy and chaotic, you have to knock loudly - to be heard above the noise of life's events. If the stirrings of our emotions are the only sounds that we hear, we need to be intentional about letting our prayers drown out the sounds of our heartbreak.
     On the other hand, if we find ourselves in the silence of tranquility or solitude, we knock gently upon heaven's gates. If we find ourselves sitting in silence, we can know that our gentle knocking will resound through the halls heaven and reach the Heart of God. When we feel like God is silent, and we yearn to hear His voice, we knock as loudly or gently as we need - and know that God hears us.
     Through prayer, we knock upon the golden gates of Glory, tap upon the heart of our Lord, and walk through the door of His Presence. In whatever season of life we find ourselves (chaotic or peaceful), we can knock and know that God will open the door and present Himself to us! Not only are we promised that the door will be opened when we knock, we are promised that the Almighty stands at the door waiting for us to come to Him!

Dusty D.

Amen is not Good Bye

           When I am walking with my wife, I do not have a designated phrase to begin and end each conversation. In fact, no matter where we are or what we are doing, the conversation is always open. We do not need a prescribed beginning and end to each thought we share, because we are with each other. We are ever walking and talking with each other – enjoying each other’s company and presence. We have a relationship that is based on more than just conversation.

Should not our relationship with the Lord be similar? So often we think the phrases, “In the Name of Jesus” and “amen,” should begin and end our conversations with God. But why is this? Have we limited a relationship with the Savior to the few moments of prayer each day? Sometimes it feels as though we are “hanging up” or saying “good bye” when we attach an “amen” to the end of our prayers. This does not need to be the case. Since we have the very great and precious promises of God, we know that the Almighty “will never leave us or forsake us” (Josh. 1:5; 1 Sam. 12:22; 2 Peter 1:4). The Lord walks with us by His Spirit EVERY moment of the day (John 14:16-17).

Perhaps, then, every waking moment we should be sensitive and aware of the Presence of God. Yes, we will pray “In the Name of Jesus” and agree by faith with a holy “Amen,” but we should not let prayer be the only time we are attentive to God (Eph. 2:18). As a husband walks and talks with his wife, let us walk with God – aware and sensitive to the Presence of our Beloved. Let us always listen for the voice of God, no matter where we are – whether in prayer or not.

-Dusty