Dear Lord,
I was listening to a pastor preaching this morning...
The words were inspiring and promising...
The words inspired hope...
The words energized...
But I know that faith without a heartfelt desire to stay in-contact with you Lord means nothing...
If I don't have the heartfelt desire to be hanging-out with you spiritually Father, I am just "playing religion," like most folks do out there in the world...
Most people are simply playing a game...
Many are playing it just in case you are real Lord...
Others just go through the motions because it has become a tradition...
The Bible says that faith without works is dead...
But I also say that works without faith are also dead...dead to you Father, out of contact...
The Evil One of the world prefers it that way: that I follow good deeds, follow the law of the land, be a "good citizen" for the sake of stability in society...
(Read about Satan's clever, and ultimately clandestine campaign against you, against your faith...free read.)
I agree with all that...
But without being in-touch with you Lord, I feel that there is no meaning in what I do...disconnected.
Somehow, I sense within that there is more...
Even if I did not know about you before...
Even if no one had ever shown me what faith is all about...
I feel that my own soul would ask itself about the spiritual...the beyond.
It's something that's built-in...
You put it in there Lord...
It is natural for anyone to think about it because we are all spiritual in nature...
Your Spirit is part of us Lord...a member of our life-force...
Without you, I feel alone, open to Nature's forces, tempted to lose control...invited to do things that are wrong...for what else if there to control you except other people and man-made rules...?
That's not enough...
We all have a spirit within that cries out for connection...
But connection to what?
To whom?
We all try to connect to other people...
Rely on dead things like the job, the social club, personal objects that we covet...
All that in order to feel some kind of security and belonging...
But all that is also temporary...
You Lord are permanent, and I like that!
I know you've been gracious to me Lord...even though I oftentimes have not been gracious to you due to life's circumstances that cross my path...
Sorry about that...
I sometimes feel alone and beaten-up by life and its demands on me...as if I don't have time for myself...
I should know by now that you always relieve the troubles of my heart Lord...you release me from my inner anxieties...
You see my issues and worries and you relieve me of these...
I have plenty of circumstances that interfere with my life Father, that trigger reactions from me that are not helping me...I forget your training, and I fall more on natural reactions...
They don't help much...
That's why in this daily communication prayer to you Lord, I just want to graciously ask (and I know I don't have to ask because you are already doing so-I just need to connect to you)...
...that you continue guarding my life and those who I love, and rescue me from the circumstances in my life...
Take me away from being shamed due to rash decisions and inappropriate actions and comments...
All in the name of being connected to you Father, and to live a healthy, natural life as you had intended me to live...
And to remain within your house Lord, taking permanent refuge...
Using the integrity and uprightness that you bestow on me Lord...
Using your protection to live a righteous and fun life in these modern times...
I do so hoping in you Lord...
And in this hope, the expectations like that of a child...
To receive your anointing...
To sense your blessings in my life and those that I love...
To feel Christ's character melding with mine...
That all evil intentions against me in thought-word-deed are deflected away...
And that the energy that you provide through the Spirit grabs me, and heals all my afflictions...
And increases my hope in you Lord.
Thank you Lord...
(from GM Evagrius)
