Jump In Any Time

Good morning on this first Monday in September! Today we celebrate the art of labor by spending the day laboring like a little donkey pulling the family cart up a mountainside after the family Thanksgiving dinner. No, we lay around all day celebrating labor with a day off? Sounds kind of backwards, it does. We celebrate Memorial Day by remembering, shouldn't we cap off the summer by laboring on Labor Day? The thing is that we can celebrate with labor all we want. The day is free from the employer, and many get this holiday with pay, but that doesn't mean that we can't jump into some labor today. Sometimes it is a celebration of something to do it when we don't have to.

Prayer is much the same at times. We may get in a bad habit of looking upon prayer as a labor that must be done before we do something else. However, we do not have to pray. God wants us to, and His will is what we seek, but no one is going to force us to pray. We like to tell others of what is going on, especially if something very good happens. We also like to share our troubles with others, kind of spread the heavy load around a bit. Why would we look at prayer as a labor then if God wants to hear all about our day, our week, every trouble and tribulation, and especially all the good things? Jump in and pray at any time.

Do something strange to celebrate prayer, like praying at the end of a meal instead of the beginning. Make this Prayer Day by praying for everyone but yourself for a day. Or, do what God wants and just talk with Him. Leave out the forms and ceremonies, and just tell God what a good job He is doing in your life. Get angry, tell God He is doing a lousy job. We would be wrong of course, but God is not afraid to hear our emotions poured out to Him. Sometimes life seems to be going all the wrong way, and we tend to blame God for it. Don't try to hide the thoughts, pour them out in prayer. As the anger drains away, or God answers, we may find that angry prayer turning to one of praise and thanksgiving. Give prayer as an offering to God; it certainly works when you seem to have nothing left to give.

God bless and keep you this holiday,
Bucky