Prayer Advice

1 Thesalonians 5:17 says to "pray continuously" and one particular young man who is only 21 has learned to do this.  His reason for this discipline is,

“It reminds you about God throughout your day... no matter how busy you are, all of a sudden you have to take out a few minutes and you’re remembering, OK, why am I really here?”  And “while I was doing whatever I was doing, was I doing it in a manner pleasing to God?”  It's a way to say  "Oh, praise to my God, the most high.” 

His advice to us is,

“I think it’s just where you put your priorities...If you put prayer at a high level, then it’s not hard.”

He says his prayers mostly take five to ten minutes to complete and that technology has made it easy for him to remember when to pray. “My phone sends me a text message,” he says. “I know a lot of people that have the iPhone app that gives a little alarm or a text or something.”

“In the morning... we’re beginning that day by praying to our Lord and our creator,” he says. “And then at noon… just as we take our lunch break to replenish our physical body, we take time to reaffirm our commitment to our creator and thereby replenish our spirit.  At night, before we turn in and go to sleep to regroup, we don’t know if we’re going to see the new day,” he says. “Once again, take time to acknowledge our creator and the rights he has over us.”

“So, no matter what you’re doing in your life, it’s always, ‘God is greater than that’ - whether it’s sleep, whether it’s work, whatever it is, God is the greatest.  Behind any type of success, there’s always a sacrifice.”

These thoughts on prayer unfortunately are shared by a young man who doesn't accept Jesus as his Savior.  He is a devout Muslim.  Yet, just like many Muslims his devotion to prayer and reverence for God puts us to shame.