Toilet+Mission Accomplishied=Prayer

What does the term “Prayer Life” really mean? When I think of that phrase I think of Judaism and how they incorporate prayer into every part of their everyday lives. Prayers are recited for some of the most routine, natural parts of everyday life, such as going to the bathroom. When one is finished using the bathroom Jews recite this prayer, “Blessed are You, Yahweh, our God, King of the universe, who formed man with wisdom and created within him many openings and many hollows (cavities). It is obvious and known before Your Throne of Glory that if but one of them were to be ruptured or if one of them were to be blocked it would be impossible to survive and to stand before You (even for a short period of time). Blessed are You, Yahweh, Who heals all flesh and acts wondrously.” What if we prayed like that? Always conscious to incorporate God into everything we do, and thank Him for every blessing, even the blessing of being able to use the bathroom. What a beautiful form of Worship Prayer is that God has given us.

So why do so many people (Me included), find it so hard to pray constantly and live out a “healthy” prayer life. A life without prayer is actually a sin. I Samuel 12:23 says, "Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you." How often are you and I guilty of this sin? Think of how much it must hurt God, who created everything and loves you more than you can comprehend, when we don’t come to Him with our concerns and requests. He who is in charge of everything has offered us an open line of communication to talk and have fellowship with Him, but more often than not we decline His offer.

So how do we fix this? How do we try to stop slapping away the Lord’s hand and start answering His call to us to pray? I think it all starts with taking a couple of pages from the Jew’s playbook. First we must actively and consciously make an effort to do it. Sometimes we get so busy in our everyday lives that we forget who is allowing us to live that life. We arrogantly say, “Im going to go do this and Im going to go do that”, instead of, “If God wills, I will do this and do that.” We are nothing with out Jesus Christ, and He has the power to strike us down any second. How arrogant it is of us to think that we automatically get to wake up in the morning and do as we please. This brings me to my second point which is looking for all the ways the Lord blesses us.


Whether we are washing the hands, about to eat a meal, waking up in the morning, or even getting done using the bathroom, we should thank God for it. Think of all the blessings that God throws your way everyday and how He doesn’t get just credit for it. How would you feel if you worked your butt off for something and then gave it to your best friend, and they took all the credit for it? You would be hurt and probably not do it again. But our God loves us so much that He keeps giving, day after day, just begging for us to come to Him and offer our Praise and Thankfulness. He doesn’t keep a track record of how many times you come to Him, he just wants you to come. So next time you get off your “throne” at home, thank God for allowing all of your many openings and hollows for working.

-Lance