Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

• John 17:1-12

“God does not exist to answer our prayers, but by our prayers we come to discern the mind of God, and that is declared in John 17, ‘That they may be one, even as we are one.’ Am I as close to Jesus as that? God will not leave me alone until I am. God has one prayer He must answer, and that is the prayer of Jesus Christ. It does not matter how imperfect or immature a disciple may be, if he will hang in, that prayer will be answered.”

• Oswald Chambers, Daily Thoughts for Disciples (October 28, from If Ye Shall Ask …)

Have you seen people get up from the pew as the organist plays the introduction to the final hymn, and they walk out?  Have you seen the guy who raises his arm over his head and taps the watch halfway through the pastor’s sermon?  Have you ever talked to people, asking them to come to Sunday school, and they look at you in horror because that is the only hour all week in which they do not have to put up with their children?

Hmm.  I really do not have to ask them, “What is your prayer life like?”

Think about it, if we are really saved, we know very little about Heaven, but we know we will be in God’s presence, worshipping and glorifying Him.  If that sounds boring, are you really a Christian?

But in preparation for the next life, when that is the primary theme, should we not commune with God here on earth?  Forget asking for stuff for a moment.  Talk to God.  He will reply.

When I lost my job ten years ago, I prayed Psalm 13 in more than a half dozen translations every day for over a year, and over time, I was answering the questions David asks.  Where are you God?  I knew where God was, and I began to thank Him for all He had done rather than whine about not having a job.  I never got the job, at least one that pays cash, but I think those treasures in Heaven are more tangible at this point.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.