Coming home last night from a prayer meeting I got to thinking about the topic at hand: mental prayer.
The leader had encouraged us to first find a casual, contemplative mood, a peaceful meditative disposition and once there to simply let our Lord know “Here I am Lord; let’s talk” or “Here I am; I have no idea what we can talk about but I’m here Lord; I’m listening.”
Not to be too serious….
Not to be too serious….
I had about 30 minutes left on my journey home and so I decided to put what I learned into practice. I lowered the radio and began to pray. I used the power of imagination to recall God’s omnipresence and I went as far as concluding if Jesus is my friend and truly loves me then why wouldn’t he be in spirit with me at that very moment. I pictured Jesus sitting next to me in the passenger seat.
Then I asked, rather casually, as a friend to another friend “Lord, out of all the Churches in the world, which one is your absolute favorite?”
A civil engineer, not a denominational theologian, I was thinking more along the lines of physical beauty – brick, mortar, and architectural style; I was picturing the magnificent cathedrals in Europe…. “Lord….which one is your absolute favorite?” Then I became silent and listened – knowing full well the answer may not come right away and when it came it would be more than likely through something I would read or hear about over the next several days.
What happened next absolutely floored me, gave me chills, put a great big smile on my face, and gave my wife chills when I shared with her what I’m about to testify to you.
Remember I had lowered the radio volume?
As I was listening, waiting for our Lord to speak, the barely audible radio signal caught my attention. I turned it up. “A few days ago the second oldest person in the world celebrated her 115th birthday!” the radio host announced. "Asked for her secret she replied 'It’s all in the good Lord’s hand’s … there’s nothing I can do about it'."
It suddenly dawned on me what had been written in 1 Peter 2:5 : “...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Within moments from asking I had my answer; the Lord had answered my prayer!
Our Lord’s favorite church is not the physical brick and mortar structures I was thinking of when I asked – but each one of us, his “living stones” and especially Mrs. Jeralean Talley, the oldest living American, the second oldest person in the world, a devout Christian all of her life, a person who isn’t afraid to proclaim to everyone the source of her joy, one whom lives by the motto “Treat others the way you want to be treated” (the Golden Rule -Matthew 7:12).
Wow! Rest assured I will be encouraging everyone, as I am doing this very moment, to allow more time for mental prayer in their own lives. See for yourself how mental prayer can work in your life. You will develop and unshakeable faith in the process.
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