This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
Pray Early, Pray Often
The only way to find God is through prayer. In the religious life of the Pharisee, prayer becomes a rite, a ceremony. In all religion based on sound principles prayer is an exercise, a ceremony, it is not blood or passion, not actual from the whole manhood. In such prayers there is magnificently beautiful diction which one needs to be in a calm, quiet state of mind to appreciate. The most beautiful prayers are prayers that are rites, but they are apt to be mere repetition, and not of the nature of Reality….
We do not pray at all until we are at out wits’ end. ‘Their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble’ (Psalm 107:5-6). … When a man is at his wits’ end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get in touch with Reality.
From Baffled To Fight Better
Why do I wait until I’m at my wits’ end to pray?
Why don’t I just pray early and pray often?
One more from Oswald Chambers:
“The man who prays ceases to be a fool, while the man who refuses to pray nourishes a blind life within his own brain and he will find no way out that road.”
I don’t want to be a fool, so I guess I need to pray more.
Craig T. Owens 