I am generally hard-pressed to finish a book - or even pick one up! I like reading a really great book, but honestly don't make much of an effort to find them. However, the wives in our small group have decided to read Get Off Your Knees And Pray by Sheila Walsh. More than anything I wanted to get together with the girls on discussion night, so I bought the book. I LOVE IT! And I hate self-help books. I don't know if Sheila would call this a a self-help book, but the purpose is to grow me in my prayer life (self-help by my definition).
Prayer has been quite a mystery to me. And, in all honesty, I have recently found myself at the end of the day thinking, "I'm exhausted. God knows where I'm at with all this stuff. He's been eavesdropping on me all day as I've discussed it with friends and thought about it privately. Can that suffice for 'prayer'?" As I was reading I kept thinking, "This is all wonderful, but do I officially need to set aside time to pray? Or are the 100's of times I've thought about this today count as prayer?" Then I got an answer... On page 41 Sheila writes, "Prayer is not a chore or something to be done at the end of the day. It's our time to crawl into our Father's embrace and lay our cares upon him. Jesus told us that in this world we will have many troubles, but not to be afraid because he has overcome this world (John 16:33). It's only when we are able to quiet the noises outside and within that we remember all his amazing promises to us." The moment I read that, I thought about my relationship with Zach. When he comes home from school, I have a general idea about how his day went. And, when I ask him, he usually blows me off with a bunch of "fines" and "I dunno's". I want him to crawl into my lap and tell me! I don't want to read about it on the note that comes home each day or overhear him talking to his friend that we carpool with on the way home. Since reading what Sheila wrote, I have felt a new desire to sit in my Father's lap and tell him directly the things that are going on in my life or running through my mind. I do not want him know simply because he overheard. Additionally, it is when I take the time to talk with him that I hear HIS voice. When I'm talking with friends and mulling things about in my own mind, it is not the voice of the Father that I'm hearing in response.
Our book club assignment was to read through page 58. I love this book and can't seem to put it down... With a week to go before our meeting, I'm on page 104 and there are markings and notes galore in my book! I highly recommend it. Get off your knees and pray!
1 comment:
I'm going to have to read this now. I love Sheila Walsh! If you like this, read Living Fearlessly. Great book. I think she wrote it in 2000. Oh, and she has another good one about her relationship with her mother-in-law, I think it's called River of Mercy? Anyway, I highly recommend it, too.
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