Prayer

An underestimated, oft over looked practice today is prayer.  Speaking from personal experience I know I get too tired at the end of the day to "say my prayers" and have often fallen asleep during them.  I'm not so sure that's the kind of peace of mind God speaks about when we come to Him in prayer.

Prayer is not so much about a laundry list of things that we beseech the Creator for.  Rather it is an expression of gratitude and love for what He has done and will continue to do.  In Luther's Small Catechism under the Ten Commandments the explanation of the second commandment, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" reads as follows:  "We are to fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks."

Pray for strength, pray for faith, and pray for health.  But above all pray the prayer our Lord taught us so that we can say faithfully and trust worthily, "Thy will be done."  

Don't under estimate the power of prayer.  Not because of any magical outcomes, but rather because of how it is an expression of a people yearning for their God to be near them.  Pray for faith so that God can and will increase it and we can be a faithful witness to Him in this age.