WE NEED TO PRAY

Prayer is the Christian's vital breath. It keeps life from drying up within us or from going bad. Life's roads are as complex as the spaghetti freeways in many of our cities. We can very easily take a wrong one through either carelessness, ignorance, or perhaps even rebellion. We need to pray constantly for direction - to pray that God will save us from a life that misses His direction for us. We have this assuring promise: "He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake" (Psalm 23:2-3). This He does for us if we let Him. Prayer leads us to look within ourselves and face the sins that separate us from God and snarl up our lives. Confession and repentance are humbling and cleansing experiences. But once on the Christian pathway, again and again we need to petition God for strength to resist the temp-tations of a materialistic world. Let us earnestly pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil " (Matthew 6:13). We live in an imperfect world because sin has made it so. Consequently, we come up against problems and difficulties. We experience fears, frustrations, suffering, sorrow, failure, and death. At all times we stand in need of prayer so that God will see us through. Courage and acceptance come with the assurance that we may lean on Him through every trial. Even as the Psalmist prayed, so can we: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4). Loneliness is among the most unbearable of all emotions. But the Christian can face the loss of those nearest and dearest to him. He can be placed in an alien environment and yet find life rewarding. In the midst of personal loss his life can flow out in a benediction to others because of his companionship with the dear Lord, Who is nearer to us than our life's breath! - Selected