There's a Time for Everything.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

It's a new week and a month! It is my goal to spend the entire month discussing prayer in some way, shape or form. Quite frankly, prayer is one of the most important foundations of maintaining our faith in God. It's something that I've avoided discussing in hope of an enormous series one day and I just kept pushing it further and further back. I've decided it's time now. After all, there is a time for everything.

Ecclesiastes 3 is a great chapter, and I say, why not read the whole thing? Not everything falls into our perfect timing. Some things may not be able to get accomplished today because of uncontrollable circumstances. However, whatever the case might be, remember that God always has a plan. Everything that happens to us, including life (birth) and death, is pre-determined by God.

If you look at the second part of verse seven it says: "A time to be quiet and a time to speak." That I feel is an important verse. You can't just talk, you have to listen. Not only should you be doing that in everyday conversation but also in your spiritual life when it comes to prayer. You might not think of prayer as a conversation, but it really should be. It's a two way conversation between you and God. We pray. We ask for guidance everyday. We thank him for the beauty of the Earth from time to time. There's really a lot of things that we ramble to God about. God really wants us to listen for us his voice, however. He wants to talk to us, but we don't often allow him to do so. You might think he's going to talk to you in a loud and mighty voice. Instead, he usually he does the opposite and speaks when things are quiet. When he does speak, it's usually a very gentle tone.

I recommend that you extend your prayer time about five minutes - not for more talking to God, but instead a time of quiet listening and meditation. Don't just open your heart when you pray, open your ears as well. You want to make the most of this opportunity. We'll talk more about this in the days to come.

Finally, realize that you can't remain protected from anything without being selfish and narrow-minded. So don't try to cover up the reality of life. Through our difficulties, God teaches us lessons. There is a time for everything.

“Many people pray as if God were a big aspirin pill; they come only when they hurt.”
~B. Graham Dienert