Hello Me!

Talk to yourself or God?

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Calmcd_positive
I’d like to confess something to you.
This is a vice that I have owned since I was a small child.  It’s
something I usually engage in secret, but also publicly.  As far as I
know, only a few people have caught me doing it.  Most likely, many
more have seen me practicing this without my realization.  Are you
ready? 
I talk to myself.
There, said it!  I talk to myself.
If you think that’s strange, what about this?  I even respond to my own
questions.  Whether I’m driving up Bowen Rd, walking through the food
court at the mall, or sitting alone at home, I often engage in lengthy
conversations with "me". 
Early indications of this behavior were
evident in my childhood as I was an only child for the first 8 years of
my life.  Factor in my introverted personality, and you have good cause
to send the white coats to my doorstep.  I don’t know what’s crazier
though.  Is it self-talk or the fact that I’m sharing this with you? 
This revelation that I’m sharing  comes on a day in which I received my own revelation. 
The
Bible tells us to "pray without ceasing".  Go ahead, admit it.  You
hate that verse don’t you?  Why?  Because it’s impossible?  Is it
because you hate praying for 5 minutes, much less 24/7?  Maybe you
associate prayer with public prayer meetings? Come on, you know you
grow tired of hearing  prayer requests for "my boss’s aunt’s cousin’s
dog’s flea’s emotional issues".  So, sometimes we equate the boredom of
a group meeting with prayer altogether don’t we?
I will admit that
the thought of "praying without ceasing" is a heavy weight on my
spirit.  I feel stressed about it, because I know that my relationship
with Christ will never be right without prayer. Praying without ceasing
is not made easier by the fact that verse 17 of 1 Thessalonians 5 is
sandwiched between "rejoice always" and "give thanks in everything". 
Okay,
back to my revelation.  Today, I realized that the exhortation Paul
gave in Thessalonians is not only expected by God, it is POSSIBLE!
Does it take energy to communicate with our Father throughout the day?
Absolutely!  Most of us think unceasing prayer is impossible because we
don’t think we have the energy to sustain it.  At least, that’s what I
believed until today.  The fact is, I expend massive amounts of energy
talking.  To myself!  Maybe you don’t talk to yourself, maybe you call
it "thinking out loud".  Maybe you don’t talk to yourself.  Maybe it’s
all thought process.  No matter our personality type, we all use a lot
of energy trying to solve our problems, trying to fix other people, or
trying to change something. 
We can no longer fly with the excuse
that prayer is boring or I don’t have the energy to keep it up!  The
truth is, we have the energy because God supplies it. Our problem isn’t
having the energy, it’s wasting the energy we’ve been given.   
If
you spend your days talking to yourself, thinking out loud, or thinking
to yourself, then you’re going to find disappointment repeatedly with
the answers you’re getting back.  God supplies the energy and the
desire, but it’s up to us to direct it back to Him!  When we do, we get
solutions to our problems, and a new supply of energy for the next
prayer.

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