cyberjosh
Member
I was listening to an international speaker & preacher John Bevere, who is my favorite pastor of all time, and he said the Lord taught him something one day when he was on his way to work (noting that God asks you to do things for him sometimes at the most inconvenient times) and God told him to pull the car over (though he would be late if he did), but in obedience he pulled over and God said to him "Did I not say in my word to pray without ceasing?" And he answered "Yes Lord". God said, "Is prayer a monologue or a dialogue?". John said "It's a dialogue." Then God hit him with this revelatory answer, "Then do you not see that I am willing to speak to you without ceasing?". John said he was in wonderment and awe saying "Oh, my my my..." when it hit him.
He used another story to illustrate his point of how he would wake up in the morning at 5 A.M. every morning and walk around his neighborhood praying every day until 7 A.M, and he would pray non-stop for 2 hours. Yet one day after he had been doing this for about a year God said to him after he had finished his prayer, "I would like the other 22 hours."
Then John used an analogy of if his wife told him, "John your time with me each day is from 2-4P.M. each day. That's your time with me." And one day John needed to talk to her (using a analogy/made up scenario) and at 10 A.M. called her and said, "Oh baby I really got to talk with you about something!" and she said "Now John, you know our time isn't until 2P.M. We'll talk about it then." "But..." "Later John". He sighs. Ok I'll go home for lunch, he says. 12:00 he calls her again, "Baby, I really have to speak with you...". "Now John our time isn't for another two hours, be patient, I'm doing something right now." Finally 2:00 rolls around and she starts talking non-stop for 2 hours.
I think you get the picture. John (in his analogy) didn't get a word in "edge-wise" (as he calls it) the whole time and never got to tell her the important thing he needed to tell her.
John said that is what he felt God was telling him: That every morning he talked non-stop for 2 hours to God and never stopped to listen and then went about the rest of the day not communing with God.
Praying without ceasing doesn't mean we have to be flipping-our-lips 24 hours of the day! It means to listen to God as well as to speak to him. That's how we can pray without ceasing! Praise God that he speaks with us and that prayer isn't just a monologue!
He used another story to illustrate his point of how he would wake up in the morning at 5 A.M. every morning and walk around his neighborhood praying every day until 7 A.M, and he would pray non-stop for 2 hours. Yet one day after he had been doing this for about a year God said to him after he had finished his prayer, "I would like the other 22 hours."
Then John used an analogy of if his wife told him, "John your time with me each day is from 2-4P.M. each day. That's your time with me." And one day John needed to talk to her (using a analogy/made up scenario) and at 10 A.M. called her and said, "Oh baby I really got to talk with you about something!" and she said "Now John, you know our time isn't until 2P.M. We'll talk about it then." "But..." "Later John". He sighs. Ok I'll go home for lunch, he says. 12:00 he calls her again, "Baby, I really have to speak with you...". "Now John our time isn't for another two hours, be patient, I'm doing something right now." Finally 2:00 rolls around and she starts talking non-stop for 2 hours.
I think you get the picture. John (in his analogy) didn't get a word in "edge-wise" (as he calls it) the whole time and never got to tell her the important thing he needed to tell her. John said that is what he felt God was telling him: That every morning he talked non-stop for 2 hours to God and never stopped to listen and then went about the rest of the day not communing with God.
Praying without ceasing doesn't mean we have to be flipping-our-lips 24 hours of the day! It means to listen to God as well as to speak to him. That's how we can pray without ceasing! Praise God that he speaks with us and that prayer isn't just a monologue!
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