Which is a Waste of Time?

Often, trouble and perplexity drive us to prayer, and prayer drives away perplexity and trouble. That is the power of prayer of petition. It is wrong to think that prayer is a waste of time; the truth is that without prayer, our work is a waste of time. Prayer connects us with God, and God with us. Prayer is our greatest privilege, greatest responsibility, and greatest power God has put into our hands. The person that prays is the person in peace and joy. "The family that prays together stays together"? Prayer strengthens bonds in families.

The world says, "If you are not making good use of your time, you are useless." Jesus says, "Come spend some useless time with me." If we think about prayer in terms of its usefulness to us -- what prayer will do for us, what spiritual benefits we will gain, what insights we will gain, what divine presence we may feel-- God cannot easily speak to us. But if we can detach ourselves from the idea of the usefulness of prayer and the results of prayer, we become free to "waste" a precious hour with God in prayer. Gradually, we may find our "useless" time will transform us, and everything around us will be different.

Prayer is being unbusy with God instead of being busy with other things. Prayer is primarily to do nothing useful or productive in the presence of God.

Pastor Selva Periannan