1 Peter 4:7-9 - The Discipline of Prayer

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:7-9

Summary: The end is near so be serious and disciplined for your prayers. Love each other and be hospitable without complaining.

Thoughts: There's alot of good stuff in this scripture of just 3 verses, but what draws my attention today is the first sentence: "be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers." Prayer has been a struggle for me all of my life. As an extrovert I find it difficult to follow the words of  Psalm 46 to "be still, and know that I am God." Being still is not my forte. I am an active sort and have been all of my life. So it's hard to take time to pray and even harder to take time to listen. After all, it took 40 years before I heard God calling me to ministry. Perhaps God waited that long to make the call, but it is more likely that it took me that long to hear God! Having said that, I should also say that when I take the time to be still, when I take the time to read scripture and contemplate what God is saying to me on that day in that text, when I take the time to listen, it is amazing what God shares. And so I continue, in my limited way, to open myself to God, knowing that God can use me if I make myself available.

Prayer: Lord help me to continue to work to develop the habit of prayer so that you can develop incredible things inside of me! Amen.