Devotion

Have you ever been involved in a conversation where you were trying to communicate with someone and they were ignoring you, shutting you out, or paying attention to something else? It really makes my wife angry if I am watching a game on television and completely shut her out when she is trying to talk to me. I remember when I was in youth group and we would be standing in a circle and praying and sometimes the prayer was more about trying not to laugh at something that was funny rather than paying attention to the prayer. There are times where I will be in church and the prayers are being said and I catch myself opening my eyes and looking around and my mind is wandering and thinking about all kinds of weird stuff that has nothing to do with the prayer. Our sinful nature is inclined to pay attention to anything but God. I Peter 3:12 tells us, "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer." When we pray, God is listening to us. He does not get distracted. He never has to say, "Um, excuse me, what did you just say?" When we communicate with God through prayer we remember the suffering and of Christ who redeemed us from our sins; we recognize that we are sinners who stand before God undeserving of anything but conviction; and we understand that the the world, and our sinful flesh will try to distract us from putting God first. Closing our eyes helps us to focus our attention on God rather than other things. Praying in a place that is quiet and secluded helps avoid distractions. And praying in a position that is not too comfortable can also help us keep our focus. May our prayers honor God, reflect him as our first priority in life, and ignore outside distractions that hinder and detour our communication.

William Hiskey

Updated: 1/18/2003