Self Is Forgotten
Almost anyone who has been a Christian for even a short time knows that there are two daily staples of the devotional life of a Christian – Scripture ( reading, meditation, and study ), and prayer. Over the years, many of my Christian friends have admitted to me that they struggle with one or the other. Most admit that prayer comes more naturally for them, but Bible reading is harder to maintain as a habit. Most of my life, it has been quite the opposite. I have always had an interest in Scripture, but prayer has been harder for me.
Fortunately, I’ve come across a little bit of help. Every once in a while I join in on a feature at challies.com called Reading the Classics Together. Even less frequently, I stick with it through the whole book. This time the book was Hidden Life of Prayer, The: The Life-blood of the Christian
The book was not necessarily an easy read for me. I’m not sure why. I’ve read lots of older books on similar topics, so I don’t think age was the issue. Perhaps I just didn’t want to learn more about my prayer life, I’m not sure.
In the end, I learned quite a bit.
The book reminded me of the things I’ve always been taught, and it brought new insight to the “ritual” (if I’m allowed to call it that) of prayer. The biggest lesson came in last week’s reading (this weeks’ discussion).
Self Is Forgotten
When prayer rises to its true level, self, with its concerns and needs, is for the time forgotten
While I learned quite a bit from this very short book, this is the one thing that I expect will change my prayer life for good. That’s really what it’s all about. If I can’t stop continually thinking of myself and my needs, I am doing it wrong.
