Daily Devotional by Tim Lucas
Daily Devotional by Tim Lucas
One Prayer Daily Devotional
By Tim Lucas, Lead Pastor, Liquid Church
Eyes Wide Shut
Colossians 4:2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
Early in Church World, everyone receives 2 basic instructions about prayer:
1) Close your eyes (no peeking!)
2) Fold your hands (and keep them to yourself!)
It’s what “devoted” prayer looks like, right?
Not so much.
At least not according to the apostle Paul in Colossians 4:2.
In fact, true “devotion” means assuming the opposite posture…
Being ”watchful” …Eyes Wide Open!
And ”thankful” …Hands Extended in Gratitude!
Growing up, I thought prayer was all about concentrating reeeeeeally hard. Now that I’m an adult, I’m realizing “true prayer” is simply spending time with Abba and allowing Him to “open my eyes.”
Most of us walk through life with our eyes wide shut—oblivious to all the ways our Father is moving dynamically in our lives.
But true “prayer” OPENS OUR EYES to His presence—in the middle of a heated marital conflict…a crappy church meeting…a crisis at work—and there we echo the surprise of Jacob: “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” (Genesis 28:16)
Who knew? God was here the whole time!
And when our eyes OPEN to God’s presence, guess what? Our hearts follow, and we become THANKFUL—brimming with gratitude that we’re not alone in this world but have Jesus by our side.
As we come together for One Prayer, are your eyes OPEN or SHUT?
Where have you seen Him recently in your life? Your relationships? Your church?
Even better: Where do you LONG to see Him at work? Please share your thoughts below.
I have been doing poorly on this PRACTICE and STANDARDIZED exam for college, and just a few moments ago I INCREASED my score (only 2 parts!) by ALMOST 200 POINTS!!
I too was raised to belive that the only way to pray was with my eyes closed hands folded and being on my knees. I am sure it does not diminish the prayer to be in that stature, but I am just as sure that God hears me when I am in many other states of posture and even attitudes. I like to compare it to my Conversations with my earthly father. I know he has litened to me when I was extremely serious and in a reverent posture. But he also will listen to me when I am excited, worried, confused, playful, or even when I just seem to talk nonsense. He may have different ways of responding to me with each posture I speak in, but he always listens and responds. Not once has my father ever said " you have to be sitting in the living room on the center of the couch, with your feet on the floor before i will listen to what you have to say" no he always wants to hear me and enjoys sharing conversations with me on all levels.
This too is what I think God wants from us. To be real, and have a sharing relationship in our conversations, ('prayers") with him
Thank you God
One prayer ha opened my eyes to see the power and strength that comes in numbers. That we must be faithful at all times and trust that the good lord is going to lead us where he needs us most. That love as hard as it is to understand right now , may have to rely on my faith and patience before it can find it's home back in my heart. And that the most important thing that I can do right now is pray for her, that she too will start to trust and understand all the love it will take to heal from the past and become the amazing person that I know waits behind that smile.
I love the one prayer act it really opens your eyes to think that your not the only part of the church that there's more christians than just in your country it really shows that we can come together as one afterall we live in one world so we should make the best of it together!
Aside from seeing the lives of my three children transformed, and other family members as well, I “LONG” to see God work in my workplace environment.
It’s not a bad job. There are probably worse places to be employed. And with the current economy it’s just a good thing to have a job. But it is not my dream job. SO it would go without saying there are moments that I really don’t like my job. There are moments of tears and even times when I’d like to bolt out the front door never to return. But without skill or an education I am kind of stuck. But maybe I’m stuck because God wants me to be stuck – there.
It may be for a season that I am to be God’s light in a place that otherwise would not have it. So I should remember that I wrestle not against flesh and blood. I should be careful not to become a stumbling block to those who have not yet come to Christ. I could be planting seeds that years from now will be watered and possibly grow / flourish into healthy relationships with our Lord. But it would be so much easier to endure if I could see some purpose, progress, and fruit even; of what I am struggling through.
It's so funny that you mention that. I actually pray with my eyes open because the best place for me to pray is in my car. I kind of have to keep my eyes open. Its pretty much the only time of the day when I know that I'll be alone and since church is a half hour away I have a lot of time to really connect with my Abba, my father. I'm come to realize that my earthly father will never be perfect and, if I'm ever a father, I'll never even reach the perfection that my Father in Heaven has. I love Him and He loves me. He listens to me everytime that I pray and gives me an answer in His time and in His way. The answer is something that He wants me to hear and not what I always want to hear at the moment but, with maturity, it makes sense. Thanks for giving us this great perspective!
I ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH YOU. U JUST TAUGHT ME SOMETHING VALUABLE. THANK GOD I LOGGED IN.
Interesting, I have felt all day that I wasn't praying enough because all I could do is thank God!! Could I have been wrong?
Thank you Pastor Lucas for a great eye opening devotional!!
Tzedakah
(See James 1:27, Micha 6:8)
I try to keep my eyes open but that is always a constant battle. thanks for the words of wisdom
I would just like to say that I had the exciting experience of Gods presence at work last week. I work for a large parcel shipping company and we were conducting an in house audit of our equipment. I am responsible for the count of this equipment, which is close to 8500 items. I was called to give an account of this number and to show my records of how I arrived at that number. As I sat down with the auditor two managers and the managers boss I became rather nervous. The auditor asked the first question and for what felt like forever I sat their not knowing what to say. I then had a calmness and ability to answer the question accurately and effectively that I knew was from the presence of the Lord. I did not miraculously just have the answers, which is entirely possible, I just had overwhelming calmness and ability to speak clearly. I would just like to say that god is awesome and we all to often try to limit his ability and we forget that he is every ware. I would like to see him at work in so many places ware do I start: my brother in laws life, my wifes ex-husbands life, my family, me, my church, and my community. Also I just want to take this time to say thank you God for this site and what you are doing.