As I sit here in my comfy chair recovering from the surgery I had 2 days ago, I was thinking. (uh oh, this is sometimes a very scary thing!) I had a nerve impingement in my right ankle. The nerve was still there, still in the right place, but since it was trapped, it was not receiving all the proper signals from my brain. This bad connection not only caused pain but it also caused some numbness and infrequent electric shock sensations.
Since I am unable to get up and do anything right now, I have a LOT of time to sit and think. I have been thinking a lot about prayer. Specifically my prayer life, or the insufficiency of it. As believers, we have a direct line to God. We are able to come boldly before the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). We have this connection with our Lord in which we are advised to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Sadly, like the nerve in my ankle, we develop an "impingement" of sorts. We get busy. We are tired. We forget. We don't see a need because things are going well. We have others things that we would rather do. This life can start to squeeze out our prayer life if we aren't careful. When our prayer life is lacking, it can cause pain in our lives as well. When we spend less time in prayer, less time in the Word, we find ourselves starting down a rougher path. When we finally look up and see that we have veered off course, trying to do it all on our own, we realize that things would be better if we would have placed a priority on our private time with the Lord. He helps us to prioritize and strengthens us for all that we must accomplish.
It is a huge blessing to be able to cast all our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7), to know that the line is open and information is flowing freely. We can trust that He is always listening, ready to hear our confessions, our adoration and thanksgiving; knowing what we need before we even ask for it. Don't let all the worries and busyness of this world impinge on your prayer time with your Lord and Savior. Put Him first, and everything else will fall into place.
