It was once a busy shopping center, housing one of the first pre-Walmart, all-purpose stores in our rural area. The place was always packed, hopping with activity, with the parking lot filled to capacity. Eventually smaller stores joined the original store, establishing a profitable strip mall for our small community to enjoy. That all changed one fateful Friday evening in May of 1985. A tornado touched down within miles of this shopping center and cut a path of destruction directly through the heart of the string of stores. Those cement block buildings were reduced to rubble in a matter of seconds. Stores would gradually be rebuilt, but the center would never again recreate its glory days. Interest waned, stores were abandoned. As I drove by recently, I noticed that the once paved parking area was overgrown by weeds that somehow found a way through the cracks in the lot. It’s hard to detect that any parking lot ever existed there.
My heart and mind have been pondering that overgrown walkway. If I could visualize my path to the throne of grace, my walkway of prayer, what would it look like? Would the path be well-worn because I have fashioned my life after David’s, who promised God “My voice shalt thou hear early in the morning, O LORD, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” Have I heard His “lovingkindness in the morning?” Do I follow Paul’s admonition and “Pray without ceasing?” Am I cognizant of the example set by my Savior Who, “…in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” My Savior, God Himself in the flesh, opened His day with fellowship and prayer directed toward His Father.
I fear that my path is too overgrown at times, much like that deserted parking lot, brimming with weeds due to lack of use. How often do I storm into my day without visiting the One Who controls that day? Often I deserve the same admonition afforded Israel in the days of the prophet Isaiah, “But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.” I never want to be “weary” of the One Who sacrificed so much for me. I want my path of prayer leading to His throne to be packed down, well-trod, and worn by reason of use. How worn is YOUR path?
I Thessalonians 5:18 Pray without ceasing
Lord, remind me to fill my life with prayer. I need to be reminded to keep the lines of communication open, to fill my life with Your power, to be led by Your Spirit.