About 30 years ago, at a revival an evangelist spoke on prayer. He had an old telephone receiver with the cord still attached. Yes, this was before smart phones.  He explained that his phone was a direct line to God. First thing in the morning he picks up the phone and says good morning Lord and they have a chat. He illustrated that during his day he never hangs up on God but leaves the phone on his shoulder so he can keep God on the line. That image has stuck with me through the years.  Celeste how are you going to keep God on the line?

Firstly, I believe we must be near to God. James 4:8 “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” Through reading the Bible, being separated through holy living, and keeping a clean heart we draw nigh to Him. We must come apart so we ladies DO NOT come apart. Matt. 14:23 “And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.” I know personally, I will never be equipped for the day if I do not make this a priority. I wished I had prayed more as a young busy momma of five.  Your family, the to do list, the phone, and the hectic busyness of the day MUST and can wait. This is a hard saying and each lady is uniquely different, but ladies find a way to pray. Mark 14:38 “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.” I am not against sharing prayer needs. However, we do not need to call/text a friend to vent or complain on social media. Our first thought ought to be, how does God wish me to handle this and then we just ask Him.

  Secondly, I believe we must pray without ceasing. 1Th. 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.” Psa. 55:17 “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” Even after my quiet time is done I try to keep him on the line. Lord, please direct my schedule and let me graciously execute my duties. Also, as I watch my arborist husband leave for work I pray, “Lord keep him safe, open my husband’s eyes to danger and help him see how to carefully fell the tree.”  Since the quarantine, my purpose is to look for more opportunities to pray. Examples would be praying in the shower, while washing dishes, (my Pastor’s wife keeps a list written on her window shade and prays for those people as she washes dishes.) I have two dear friends who have their quiet time while on the treadmill. If someone asks prayer for . . . “I say if you don’t mind let’s pray right now.” The more I strive to pray without ceasing the Lord has brought needs to my mind. While listening to music I have heard a missionary’s favorite hymn and I stopped what I was doing and prayed for her. I misplaced my wedding ring twice this year. Yes, I am scatterbrained. And after searching frantically, I got on my knees and said, “Lord I’m sorry, I should have asked you first. Please help me find my ring.” He immediately brought to mind where I had left it. At times I cannot sleep and I ask the Lord, “Ok Lord I am awake because someone needs prayer.”  Or may be he is just keeping me awake so I will stop and just listen to him. Since we have to comply with social distancing I planned a prayer walk with some of my ladies. A group of us ladies will meet at our church parking lot and share our requests (we stayed six feet or further away from one another) and then we walk around the lot and pray for our prayer walk. There is no social distancing from God!

Thirdly, sometimes I need an answer. Matt. 6:8 “Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Nothing surprises God, but I am grateful he is willing to hear my petitions. I am an Associate Pastor’s wife, mother of five adult children and assist in the business end of a Youth orchestra. Among these we have very full schedules. I need lots of prayer. During a very hectic spring, in a weeks time we had a Marriage Retreat to host and decorate for; along with an out of state graduation of our two sons at different colleges on the same day. I knew I wanted to honor my Lord, please our Pastor and support my two sons graduating from Bible College. My lists had lists and I was afraid of forgetting something. The Lord was my constant guide and companion. The ONLY way to successfully come out on the other side was to keep Him on the line. As I was making a list of food items for both events I was interrupted and I could not for the life of me remember to write down bagels. I prayed,  “Lord please help bring to mind that one item I can’t remember.” At that moment my husband was making his way back to the kitchen door from the driveway to tell me: “Hey I came back to remind you to put bagels on your list.” It seems trivial but I did a jig and shouted bagels, bagels. Thank you Lord it was bagels. He even cares about our little details. Unless I appear to be too carnally minded in my requests, I do have answers to spiritual matters. Prayer to me is a conversation with my Lord in whom I dearly love. We do what we want, when we want, and how we want. Let our ‘wanter’ be to pray.