"Pray On"

Pastor Mark A. Callister 

      I started praying long before I ever became a Christian.  My first prayers were most likely the kind a child prays when he is afraid of the dark.  I distinctly remember praying for blessed sleep to come and rescue my tired mind from all sorts of imagined evil, and sleep came.

          In my adolescent years, as I was coming to grips with my impending adulthood, I remember praying and asking God for two things.  First I prayed that I would grow to be over 6 feet tall.  Second I prayed that I would have a hairy chest.  Don’t ask me why, I’m just reporting the facts, but it probably had something to do with my perception of masculinity.  I turned out to be 6 foot 1 inch tall and Charlotte has to do a little grooming on me if I need to take my shirt off at the beach.

          Have all of my prayers been answered?  No, people I love have died too soon and bad things have happened to make life difficult at times.  But I still believe in prayer.

          The greatest answer to a prayer of mine was the answer I received when, in the back of a Ford pick-up truck, I prayed, “Father, I know I’m a sinner, I know I’m lost, please forgive me and send Jesus to come and live in my heart.”  That prayer was answered in the blink of an eye and my life has never been the same.

          Pray about your fears.  God wants to help you find courage to face life with peace and confidence.

          Pray about your desires.  God wants to be intimately involved in your life and sometimes even grant you the desires of your heart.

          Most importantly, pray the prayer of a sincere seeker.  Confess your sins, turn away from your sins (repent) and ask Jesus to come in to your heart.  Mean it with everything that is in you and it will happen for you just as it did for me.

          God bless you and pray on!