S205P10 – The posture of prayer: a proof of priority

Psa. 88:11-13

Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction? Shall Your wonders be known in the dark? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But to You I have cried out, O Lord, and in the morning my prayer comes before You.

The first time I met him, he would not stop telling me about her.  It was a long distance relationship so they did not see each other much, but that did not stop him from gushing over his girl every moment he had. It was almost as if she actually was around us a lot of the time. Conversations always included something about her, and he seemed really excited for the day that they eventually would be able to live much closer to each other.  That is why it was such a surprise to me to learn how infrequently they spoke.  It takes only a moment to pick up a phone, but he would go weeks without communicating with her.  He might have thought he was making her a priority by speaking about her, but that was at odds with how infrequently he took the time to speak to her.

The psalmist here is very clear to indicate that he prays in the beginning of the day.  Reading the remainder of this chapter, it is obvious that he surely is going through the fire.  This is a desperate man, and prayer is his priority because he knows how necessary that communication is. It is almost like his spiritual breakfast, and it is proof of the importance of his relationship with God.  He could wait until later in the day to dig in, but perhaps he cannot make it through the day without starting out in prayer.  To him, prayer is no different than food, water, and oxygen. These are priorities to us because we need them; we cannot exist without them. We might be able to survive for a short time, but we eventually will need to eat, drink, and breathe just to live.  That should be our perspective about prayer, that it is a fundamental priority in our lives.

I rarely make time to eat breakfast, and that probably happens more often than my starting the day off with prayer.  Clearly stated, these are unhealthy habits.  There is a reason why each day ends and another begins, a reason why we do not live just one really long day.  These bodies and spirits need continual renewal, and each of those days is a chance to reset and get healthier. Our spiritual nourishment is no less a priority than our physical nourishment, but we must develop healthy habits which indicate that it is a priority.  If we talk about the Lord as if He is our number one, as if He is all that we need, perhaps we should show that by making sure we do not attempt to tackle one day without first addressing him in prayer.  Father, give us the desire and the discipline to offer up our days in prayer to You before we try to fulfill your will with them.