If we are honest, all of us would admit that we ought to spend more time each day in prayer. The advice Jesus gave us is “Pray without ceasing.” He also said, “You should always pray and not faint.” He set the example of praying. Jesus was always spending time praying, so much so that the disciples asked Jesus, “Teach us to pray!” We should spend some time each day praying. Prayer is essential. Jesus himself felt the need for prayer, and if Jesus could not live without conversations with God, how can we hope to live a Christian life without prayer?

There is a viewless cloistered room,

As high as heaven, as fair as day,

Where, though my feet may join the throne,

My soul can enter in, and pray.

One hearkening, even, cannot know

When I have crossed the threshold o’er;

But He alone, who hears my prayer,

Hath heard the shutting of the door.

God created all of us in his image. We are children of the King. He never stops loving us. He loves the sinners and the saints. He died to save us from our sins. God demonstrated his love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Most of our prayers that begin with “I want” and “Give me” should be changed to “Use me” and “Let me help.” Jesus said, “When you pray, believe that you shall receive them and you shall have them.” We cannot live a Christian life without praying.

I learned this little gem many years ago: “Timid sailors reef and tack, and hug the sheltering lee, but ships that bring the whole world back put bravely out to sea.”

David said, “The Lord is on my side, whom shall I fear.” God created all of us in his image and he never stops loving us. He died to save us from our sins. It has been said, “The worst mistake a man can make is to live only for himself.”

Henry Drummond reminds us that half the world is on the wrong trail, seeking happiness. They think that happiness consists in having and getting, and being served by others. The truth is, happiness consists in giving and helping others.

Some wise person reminded us that “It isn’t the money you’re making, it isn’t the clothes you wear, and it isn’t the skill of your good right hand, which makes us really care; it’s the smile on your face, and the light of your eye, and the burdens that you bear.”

We may not be as good as we ought to be, but if we are breathing, we are not hopeless in the eye of God. David said, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain you.” (Psalm 55:22) For the worst of us, if we turn to God, there is always hope.

I am glad to share some of my thoughts in my early morning prayers — “Thank you for a new day. I commend to you all who are in pain, and entertain doubts. Let my attitude be positive, and all my thoughts be in perfect harmony with your will. Let me leave behind fear and ideas not in keeping with your will. Let me see no one in distress and pass on the other side. O Lord, in thy will I find my peace, in thy love is my rest. Comfort those who know sorrow.”

My constant prayer is that all will lift up our Lord and invite him to dwell within our hearts. The Lord shall lift us from our spiritual poverty to the riches of his grace. Only Jesus can give us a burning passion to bring others to the master. Let us thank Him for the unrelenting love that will not go away.

Give us the spiritual vision to see our needs and the fortitude to work unceasingly until Thy will is done on earth as it is in heaven. “The hill of Zion yields a thousand sacred sweets, before we reach the heavenly fields, or walk the golden streets.”

Robert V. Ozment is a retired United Methodist minister.