Prayer: Our Link To An Incredible Relationship

I posted the following on "Altogether Seperate" today and wanted to share it here on my own personal blog as well :} 


I would like to invite you to open your imagination with me for a few minutes and allow me to paint a few strokes across your canvas.

It's early in the month of October.  You are looking at a brilliant colored sunrise just peeking over the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.  You know the type I mean; scarlet red, deep, rich orange, with hints of pink softening the edges.  The first rays of sunlight streaming through the clouds.

You can hear the soft "slap, slap, slap" of the waves as they ripple across the shoreline and almost smell that salty spray, while the colors from the sunset are reflected.

Sitting on the sand close together with their eyes captivated by the sunrise before them, you will find a young couple.  Both are unaware of the beauty that is radiating from them.  Joy is reflected in their eyes.  Peace and trust are found in they way they are sitting.  There is truly a sense of deep contentment in their presence.

Behind them are the rocky cliffs of the Maine shoreline followed by wave upon wave of the rich, pure colors found in the New England foliage.

The young man looks down at the woman he loves with a love she can not imagine.  He holds her hand with such gentleness as it rests between the pages of a book he wrote for her.  You see, the young man can not verbally speak to her, but he can and does write to her.  He can write of his love for her, his plans for their future, he can encourage her and give her the leadership and guidance she desires.  He fulfills every longing  she has had and is the one she has given her heart to.

The young woman looks at the sunrise and the waters reflecting its beauty and a tear comes to her eye.  What had she done to deserve such love.  Nothing. She looks into the eyes of her young man and reads within them the love, forgiveness and understanding she has sought for.

He points at the sunrise and sweeps his arm across the ocean and then behind them to the beauty that surrounds them.  She nods her head.  She understands.  He has made everything for her.  It was one more way He showed her how much he cared for her. 

She rests her head on his shoulder.  There was no place she would rather be.  The more time she spent with him the closer they became.  Whenever she had a question or needed help, he was there and had written something in their special book to encourage, direct and guide her.  No matter the time of day, no matter the situation, he helped her and she could rest in knowing he was in control of everything.

Yes, this was an allegory.  An allegory to what I believe God wants my relationship and your relationship  to be with Him.  Just as the girl knew that she was safest and happiest in his presence, so must I learn to spend more time with Him and seek His face.

If you were that young lady, wouldn't you want to spend all your time with Him.  Talking with Him about everything because your heart was held safely with Him.

The girl's relationship would not grow unless she spent the time.  How many relationships do you know that grow stronger and stronger everyday, when there is no communication, no thoughts towards the other person, no time spent cultivating the relationship?  I don't know of one.

God loves us more than we can imagine.  He can and will fulfill every desire that comes from Him.  However we won't experience that joy, peace and complete trust found in the presence of the young couple, with our Heavenly Prince, unless we spend the time with Him and cultivate that relationship.  Talk to Him.  He wants us to.

I've read many times how people have spent hours praying with God and I've thought to myself, "How do they do that?  How do they spend that much time praying and staying focused while finding that much to pray about?".....And then I read Sarah Mally's book (I talked about this book in my first post).  She gave an example of how to pray for an hour.  Breaking it up into 5 minute increments.  Her example was:

5 minutes ~ Worship

5 minutes ~ Thanksgiving

5 minutes ~ Confession

5 minutes ~ Pray Psalms to the Lord

5 minutes ~ Pray for your authorities

5 minutes ~ Pray for your missionaries

5 minutes ~ Pray for your unsaved family and friends

5 minutes ~ Other general requests

5 minutes ~ Ask for wisdom, grace, and humility is specific areas in which you know you need to change

5 minutes ~ Personal requests

5 minutes ~ Ask God for abundant blessing

5 minutes ~ Praise and Thanksgiving [1]

Obviously you can personalize the list, but you would be surprised how fast time goes! When I tried it the first time, I found I had to give more time to certain requests and the hour was gone.  It was a special time, and when I finished, it reminded me of how I feel after I've had a long talk with a friend that I haven't seen in ages. - An inner joy at having shared with each other things that have happened in our lives and knowing that the link between the two of us has grown stronger.
If that young man was your fiancee or husband we would make the time and plan ahead.  Just think how much God loves us and how important our relationship with Him is.  We need to plan it into our day and spend the time.  He is our dream Prince Charming if only we would only spend the time.

Footnotes: 1. Before You Meet Prince Charming by Sarah Mally pg. 217