Week One, Day Five

God's Word

Therefore Let everyone who is Godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach Him.

Psalm 32:6

The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases Him . . . . The LORD is far from the wicked but He hears the prayer of the righteous.

Proverbs 15:8, 29

We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.

John 9:31

Live It

I didn't grow up with grandparents. Even though I had them, they lived over a thousand mile away, and we almost never saw them. So when I got married, I adopted my wife's grandparents. They're awesome people. Her grandfather was a pastor his whole adult life. He "retired" from the ministry in the 1970s but he's still going strong. He preaches for pastors when they go on vacation, and he preaches at a church in Florida when he's there in the winter. The guy's almost ninety, and he never stops.

But the best thing about Grandpa Jones isn't his experience as a pastor. It's his spirituality. He's Got to be the most spiritual guy I've ever met. His prayers are the best.

Ever read a lot of the King James Bible? It's got a lot of "Thees" and "Thous" in it. Every passage seems like a page taken directly out of medieval times. When I read from the King James Version of the Bible, I feel like I'm actually reading an ancient document. The Bible feels more holy to me when it's read in the King James Version. It feels more special.

Well, Grandpa Jones prays in the King James Version. He doesn't read out of the Bible when he prays, and he doesn't have a list of prayers that he reads in old language. He actually prays in his own words like the King James Bible is written. So when he prays for food before a meal, he usually prays in a lofty-sounding tone, as if he were talking to royalty: "Our gracious and loving heavenly Father, we thank Thee for Thy loving kindness in providing for us this bounty from which we are about to receive. Thine is the goodness which keepeth us fed. O God, we thank Thee for Thy provision for us today. Bless us as we partake from Thy Goodness. For Christ's sake we pray. Amen."

Grandpa doesn't just pray for meals in a weird but cool way. He prays consistently. I know that for two very specific reasons. First, every time we see him he mentions that he's praying for us-and it's usually about stuff we haven't told him about. That means he's been in touch with the family to ask how he can pray for us. Second, the family has many old stories about how Grandpa Jones prays all the time. Family members will tell you that they have often walked by his study and seen him kneeling at his office chair praying for someone.

It's not the words he uses that sets this man's prayer life apart from others'. It's his consistent prayer life that makes him our example. Look, use whatever words you want. Pray like your pastor, or pray like your little sister if you want. I'm not sure it matters much to God how we pray. The thing that matters is that we do pray. Good relationships are built on good conversation. Our relationship with God can't be effectively built unless we are constantly and consistently talking to Him and listening when He's talking.

_____________________________________

Questions for you to think ---> AskYou Day Five, Week One.