Why Pray?

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. --Colossians 4:2 (NIV)

I used to think of prayer as something that was merely recited before a meal or spoken in unison during a church service. Although those are times when prayers are offered, those aren't the only occasions when prayer should take place. Although I am still learning a lot about what prayer is, I have a good understanding of what prayer is not.

Prayer is not a memorized paragraph to be recited thoughtlessly. It is not something to be mumbled hastily over a meal. It is not a childhood bedtime ritual or a way of presenting God with a lengthy discourse about what we think we need from him.

I think of prayer as a conversation between myself and God. Sometimes I pray audibly, other times I do not. When I pray, my main goal is to gain a deeper understanding of how God wants me to proceed in life and a clearer picture of his nature. Over the years as I have learned to pray more earnestly, I have come to regard prayer as one of the most important parts of my relationship with God.

Prayer is a time to lay our hearts bare before God, allowing him to see our vulnerabilities, failures, and all the emotions that make us human. In order for me to be devoted to prayer, I must pray diligently in any and all circumstances. This not only brings me to a point of deeper level of intimacy in my relationship with God, but it also serves as an excellent weapon in the face of spiritual battle. When I am devoted to prayer, the Holy Spirit strengthens me and equips me to fight well in times of spiritual combat or conflict.

Prayer is of vital importance in my life--it keeps me connected to God in a way that I can't even fully comprehend.

Something more Permanent

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. --Colossians 3:1-3 (NIV)

For the last 5 months, the window treatment in the master bedroom has been, well, a work in progress. The drapery rods and curtains are quite attractive, but the shades covering the window were atrocious. They were the 2-dollar adhesive variety that we purchased out of sheer necessity with little regard to aesthetics. I don't know why it took me so long to replace them, other than the fact that I was too lazy to want to expend the simple effort. I managed to convince myself that they looked fine.

Today the old shades came down and in their place I installed new ones. The hardest part about putting up the new ones was eliminating the remnant pieces of the old shades. Even as flimsy as they were, the adhesive proved a formidable challenge. It was almost as though it was reluctant to give up its place in the window to something more permanent. All traces of the old ones needed to come out to make room for the sturdy ones.

The same is true of things I harbor in my heart at times. I convince myself that things I do really aren't that bad, and that making changes requires too much work. I know that I should give all of my thoughts and actions over to God, but I am often set in my ways. My head tells me that what God has to offer me in exchange for my old way of doing things is far better than whatever I was attempting on my own, but still I falter. In order to live fully for Christ, I need to let go and let Him take over.

Like installing the new shades, the Holy Spirit works in my heart to establish a new attitude. Where previously my heart had been occupied by flimsy ideas, ugly sins, and fleeting fancies, I am given something more permanent. Daily I am reminded that I need to look not to things of this world for satisfaction, but to God. As His will unfolds in my life, I learn that the saving grace that God has extended to me is the only thing worth treasuring.

As long as I'm on earth, my heart will be a work in progress. Trading in the temporary for the permanent isn't always easy, but the end result is beautiful.

Working Hard and Serving God

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. --Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)

Where I work there is an oft-uttered rhetorical question that makes its way from the lips of my colleagues to the ears of anyone who has happened to leave his or her office door open.

"Working hard, or hardly working?"

I usually respond with a light chuckle, saying "working hard, of course!"

As a Christian, I believe my work ethic should be aligned with Paul's words to the church at Colosse. Everything I do is done with the Lord in mind. Whether I'm filling out my timecard according to our ethics policies, interacting with clients over the phone or chatting in the hall with my co-workers, I know that I need to maintain an attitude of servitude and humility.

There are times in the workplace environment when putting this Christ-like attitude into practice isn't easy. When the stress level builds, my first response to a situation can be selfish or defensive. On more than one occasion I have allowed my sinful nature and ambitious drive to overtake my desire to maintain a gentle and quiet spirit. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit steps in and reminds me that my own ambitions and the rewards I may seek here on earth are nothing compared what God has to offer for serving Him.

When I'm hard at work at my desk--scheduling environmental assessments, drawing maps or calculating emissions factors--I'm not just doing it for a paycheck. I put my utmost effort into my chosen occupation because to do any less with the intelligence and capabilities God gave me, would fail to honor Him. Although there is a long-term goal (i.e. saving for retirement) associated with working a full-time schedule, the goal I'm really after is my inheritance from the Lord.

I may work for a multi-national company, but I serve the Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Please Pass the Salt

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. --Colossians 4:5-6

When it comes to the contents of God's Word, memorization purely for memorization's sake is not the point. The true value lies in taking the Bible's contents to heart and developing the discernment needed to apply its truths in day to day life. Even beyond that, knowing the Word of God enables us to know about God. When we know Him more fully, we are better able to communicate the reality of who He is with others.

Paul's letter to the Colossians admonishes them to let their speech be full of grace and seasoned with salt. I believe that this means our words need to be more than just savory to the listener. When we are talking about God with those who do not yet have a relationship with Him, the best way we can ensure that our words will take hold is to make sure they are salted. In other words, just like salt was used to preserve food, the Holy Spirit can give us salty speech and words that will be preserved in the hearts of those who hear us. To have speech that is full of grace means we need to communicate God's Word as truth. Unless we have passages of scripture at the ready, much else of what we try to say may be useless.

I consider it a compliment when someone tells me that something I said made an impact on him or her. I wouldn't be surprised if God feels similarly when we acknowledge that His Word is making an impact on us. Unless we spend consistent periods of time reading the Bible, we are missing out on the opportunities to let God influence and shape us. Furthermore, when we merely read the Bible without actively engaging our minds by working to memorize what we're reading, we don't make much progress toward writing God's laws on the tablets of our hearts.

In the past I have fallen embarrassingly short of the goal of memorizing large blocks of God's Word. I attribute this to my selfish need to be entertained. If I can memorize the lines of my favorite movies, certainly I should be able to memorize scripture. In the future I am committed to not only memorizing God's Word, but understanding it more fully as it pertains to my life and God's purpose for me. Moreover, by committing portions of the Bible to memory I will be building a solid foundation that will help me defend my faith, speak the truth in grace, and offer well-seasoned words to anyone who may ask about my beliefs.

The Gift of Life

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. --Colossians 3:4

Last night while I was at my doctor appointment at UCSD, I got to eavesdrop on a miracle in progress.

I'm a new patient at that particular facility, but the routine is basically the same as what I had grown accustomed to at Loma Linda University Medical Center. First I am escorted to an area where I weigh in, have my height recorded and my vital signs checked. After that I head back to the examination room and await further instruction. Last night, as I strolled back to the exam room, I noticed a young woman sitting beside a portable oxygen tank which had obviously been decorated for the Christmas season. I offered her a friendly smile and thought to myself "wow, she's sure taking that in stride."

As I resumed my seat beside my husband in exam room #2, I commented to him about what I had just seen, and described the festive-looking tank. In the next moment, the near-silent hallway became noisily alive with several excited voices. Brad and I learned that the young woman was a candidate for a lung transplant, and had just been paged with the news that a donor had finally become available!

For the rest of the evening, my thoughts kept returning to that young woman. I contemplated the fact that she was being given a second chance at life because somewhere nearby, a life had just been lost. As a result, the medical world and the generous gift of a total stranger had combined to offer her a miracle.

In the same way, God has offered us the gift of life. We were already dead in our sins when he decided that we would send his son to restore us. More than two thousand years ago, he sent his son--flesh, blood, and breath--so that ultimately in his death we would be given the opportunity to live. For generations before Christ's coming, God's people were required to wait. They waited for years for a Savior, no doubt feeling discouraged at times. How blessed we are to be living in a time where we have seen the fulfillment of God's promise to his people. We are not like the numerous people on the transplant list who live day to day wondering if their names would be called and hoping for a chance to live. Nor are we like the believers of the Old Testament who were given promises from God, but who did not get to see those promises fulfilled in their lifetimes.

We are like the young woman who received a new set of lungs last night. Our names have been called. God's promises have been fulfilled, and new life in Christ is ours for the taking. Believing in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is a way for us to receive salvation as something of a "life transplant. And unlike with organ transplants, we need never fear the possibility of rejection! The gift of salvation is one that cannot be lost, and the gift of life in Christ is life eternal.



To learn more about organ donation and how you can give someone the precious gift of a second chance at life, please visit www.organdonor.gov

Sin and Chocolate Sauce

Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed which is idolatry. --Colossians 3:2, 5

Over the weekend I made biscotti--not just plain biscotti either; we're talking fancy stuff, drizzled with white and semi-sweet chocolate. The drizzling process made the cookies look great, but my kitchen...well...that's another story. After preparing no fewer than 8 dozen cookies, I decided to survey the damage. To my chagrin I discovered dried chocolate on the counter, the wall and even the floor! Those weren't too difficult to clean up (especially since my husband helped), but the worst mess was in the saucepans where I had actually melted the chocolate. The warm, gooey, white and dark chocolate concoctions were now cocoa and vanilla bricks, impervious to my scouring pad. How could something that was so delectable merely hours before have turned into such a nauseating mess?

During the 45 minutes or so that it took to clean up after my "biscotti extravaganza", I decided to multitask and use the time for prayer and reflection. I'll never cease to be amazed at the little lessons God teaches me in the midst of commonplace tasks. I never would have guessed that God would use cake-on chocolate to provide an illustration of the effects of sin.

Indulging in our sinful desires is a bit like melting chocolate in the saucepan. We set out to pursue something that seems fun or pleasurable. We fool ourselves into believing that we are in control not only of the sinful actions themselves, but of the resulting outcomes or consequences. This is simply not true. We cannot control everything, nor do we have the energy or the time to do so. The chocolate sauce was easy for me to control, so long as I had the right amount of heat applied and was constantly paying attention to stirring it, but as soon as I turned off the burner and walked away, I lost control. The sauce hardened and made a big mess. Trying to re-melt and re-stir only resulted in a bigger mess and some unsavory burnt chocolate.

If we live only for the purpose of gratifying our sinful desires, we will make a mess that could eventually become too big to handle or clean up on our own. Take pre-marital sex for instance--what may seem like harmless fun to the two people directly involved, could result in a huge mess. That mess could come in the form of an unwanted pregnancy or an incurable sexually transmitted disease. Undoubtedly those messes would have messes of their own as well, such as irreparable emotional damage, loss of self-esteem, or skewed attitudes about healthy sexual expression. The longer any of those messes goes unattended, the bigger the problem it will create in the long-run. Eventually, the mess will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to clean up.

I only wish that the messes of sinfulness could be cleaned up with a scouring pad, some hot water and a little elbow grease. Unfortunately, they're not. Cleaning up the sin in our lives is not something that we can do on our own. Only God has the ability to right the tremendous wrongs in our lives. He has the patience and dedication required to scrape through layer upon layer of the caked on messes we accumulate. He has a scouring pad big enough and tough enough to get into the corners of our hearts that we are unwilling or unable to reach by ourselves.

One my kitchen was cleaned, I found a renewed sense of enthusiasm and creativity. I found new joy in preparing a meal, and I delighted in using all the counterspace as I made dinner. When God cleans out the sin in our lives, he gives us room to experience his goodness more freely. God has so much more to give us than the fleeting things we selfishly pursue. He offers us an eternity of contentment and a life of peace. Unless we surrender to him and ask him to help us clean up the caked on messes of our sinfulness, we will never have room in our lives for the things he wants to give us. The things of this world are temporary, but God's blessings are eternal.

All for Him

And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. --Colossians 3:17

Everything we do must give glory to God. When it comes to serving Him, sometimes it isn't true that our actions speak more loudly than our words--in reality, our actions and our words should work together. It is important to make sure that the two do not cancel each other out, but rather, build upon one another as we honor and glorify God in our lives.

I have to admit that there are times when it is a lot easier to do things with an attitude that I might somehow gain recognition from it. Maintaining a humble, selfless attitude is difficult, particularly in this day and age. I'm sure we all have had times when people get a lot accomplished and think "I deserve a pat on the back for this." Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately) a large portion of what we do goes unnoticed by the rest of the egocentric world.

No matter what we do, we can be sure that if we are truly doing it to God's glory, He will give us a certain feeling of joy that is possibly the spiritual equivalent of a pat on the back. It takes practice to have a servant's heart and to rid ourselves of the pattern of doing things simply for personal recognition, but the eternal reward is far greater than anything we think we desire in the here and now.