Living Waters by JW Kaiser

Getting better at something, even something as fun as surfing, takes work. 

I’ve been so busy lately and, like many had surfing restrictions at my local beach, so I’ve hardly made it out for a surf. Even on the rare occasion when I’ve gotten into the water, I was out of sync and floundering around. 

Embarrassing! What do I need to overcome this kooky feeling while surfing? Obviously more time in the water surfing. In short, practice. 

Is prayer hard for you? It is for me. 

It’s easy to say “I’ll pray for you” but hard to do earnestly. 

It’s even harder for me to sit quietly with the Lord in an expectant way, patently waiting on the Lord, enjoying his presence. I’d rather climb a mountain than sit quietly, but God never said climb a mountain to find him. He does say that we will find him in the quiet contemplative places of our lives. It feels like I am toiling to pray.  

I’ve heard it said that “knowledge changes execution.” If that is true, the more we know Jesus the more we will want to sit in quiet places with him. Then, the more we sit in quiet places with him, the more we will know him. A really good cycle, right? 

Well, the hard news is that the opposite is also true. The less we know Jesus the less we will want to pray and then the less we will want to be with him. Friends, we need to work to make prayer a discipline. Now more than ever the world needs prayer. We all need prayer...and a good surf certainly helps as well. 

Matthew 6:6 "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

"Maybe our Lord takes away from our souls the grace to pray easily so that we can learn how little it is that we can accomplish with only our own strength. Rejoice and take comfort and consider how great a privilege it is to work in the garden of so great a Lord." - Teresa of Avila