I’m not very good at prayer. When I pray I find myself daydreaming or dozing off, which is hard to admit as a career minister. I do, however, pray at least a few minutes in the morning, and when I say I’ll pray for someone I always follow through. I figure these meagre offerings add up over time.

Thankfully, my modest prayers go in the right direction — to the God of the Universe. My object of prayer is much more important than my performance at prayer. So I sigh in relief.

Paul encouraged the folks in Colossae to hang in there when it came to prayer. He offered a simple construct on how to pray: Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. I find helpful direction from Paul’s perspective:

First, continue steadfastly. Don’t give up so easily. Return from my daydreams and pray some more. Call on the Lord a little bit every day. Talk to him throughout my waking hours and enjoy a conversation with the Creator.

Second, be watchful. Pay attention to the world and pray for what I notice. Lift up my neighbors as they walk by. Pray for folks I engage with at the store, those who stock the shelves and others who help me check out. Pray as I watch the news and take in the world situation. Don’t just complain and worry, but carry those worries and fears to the Lord. Pray for the famous and powerful people splashed across my screens to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Third, pray with thanksgiving. Herein lies the a most powerful aspect of prayer. Thankfulness aligns mind, body and soul. A grateful heart adds power to prayer. All this and heaven too, as the old saints used to say. If I dwell on the good things God has brought into my life, the work of prayer grows more fulfilling.

It’s embarrassing to admit that I sometimes approach prayer as a drudgery or an exercise in make-believe. Paul’s formulation uncomplicates the practice. I can enjoy walking and talking with my Creator. I’m grateful that even with all my daydreams, the Lord continues to pay attention to my prayers.

Colossians 4:2

Photo by Edurne Tx

Dress for success is an age-old mantra. When I go into a store for a major purchase (my wife and I shopped for a new mattress recently) I expect to work with a well-dressed, nicely groomed salesperson. If I’m greeted by a slovenly host I’ll leave, even if the slob knows mattresses like Houdini knew magic. As we tested beds several stylish employees engaged with us. Those folks know that first impressions matter.

Did you know that dress for success is a Biblical concept as well? Paul told the Colossian church members to put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Picture exchanging a ratty outfit for fresh gear. Paul exhorts us to put away the practices of our old selves, the anger, slander and obscene talk of our original nature. The old self focuses instinctively upon ourselves to the exclusion of others, an insidious form of idolatry we find particularly alluring.

This new clothing comes through seeking the knowledge of the Creator. Jesus said, Seek first the kingdom of God. Paul reminded Roman believers to be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Change is possible. Our lives can shift to ones marked by compassion, kindness, humility and patience.

But doing so is a choice. With the power of the Holy Spirit we can exchange our wardrobe. The new attire won’t fade or wear out. In fact, the living apparel Paul references grows more vibrant the longer we wear it.

Dress for success. Certainly a proven maxim, and also a wondrous truth made available to us by the kindness of our Creator.

Colossians 3:10; Matthew 6:33; Romans 12:2

Photo by Alexander Naglestad

You know the story. After hearing conflicting reports from their spies, the Hebrews rebelled against Moses in the wilderness and refused to enter the promised land. The men in the room failed to act like men. They claimed all would be slaughtered and their little ones eaten by giants. Egypt sounded safer and softer.

God reacted in displeasure and sentenced the nation to 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, one year for each of the 40 days the spies roamed. Not until every last person who defied God fell dead would anyone cross the Jordan.

But what of their children, those to be served for dinner? But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected…your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.

Those kids wandered about for years, suffering the shame of their elders. They buried parents and vowed to be different. Through spartan living God formed a generation of rugged men and women who hungered for a promise beyond the horizon. Hardened and resolute, when the curse lifted they flooded across the border.

At times the Lord places you and me in situations beyond our control. We suffer for no reason of our own. Inheriting the results of poor decisions, it’s up to us to either wallow in self-pity or look to the Lord for strength. Often God needs to toughen us up, and he has a purpose in mind for doing so.

Hardened and resolute beats safe and soft every day.

Numbers 14:31-33

Photo by Juan Molina

Fortunately I’ve never experienced food insecurity. Hunger yes, but a meal always waits somewhere near. Many people in our world deal with ongoing hunger and even famine. It’s easy to take for granted grocery stores open day and night for my convenience. I forget how good I have it.

God commanded the children of Israel to allow the land a Sabbath rest every seventh year. In that year they planted no crops, but the Lord blessed the harvest from the year before to cover two years. Then, every fifty years God instituted a year of Jubilee. Debts were forgiven, people returned to their family homes, and again, no crops were planted. However, a year of Jubilee followed a Sabbath year, meaning no work in the fields for two years in a row.

The Lord anticipated the angst: And if you say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?” I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.

Food sufficient for three years. The faith required to trust God for such a massive harvest sounds intense. God instituted this system to allow the land to rest (a method of sustainable agriculture), and to show his people his power to meet their needs.

It’s interesting to consider faith and food, and how God provides for us. Every time I walk down the aisle at the local market the fully stocked shelves declare his goodness. The Lord promises and the Lord provides.

Leviticus 25:20-22

Photo by @mintolime