| Of the power of prayer |

I wonder, what causes us to pray? What are the driving forces that under gird our desire to see God work? I know for myself, I see a trend in my own life that causes me to stop and think. This trend is simple: when I'm engaged in ministry I tend to pray a lot more.

I liken this to working out or playing a sport. While some of us may be casual water drinkers (I know I am), we notice a need and a thirst for water when we're actively engaged in a sport or challenging activity. And why would it be any different spiritually?

If we are constantly being challenged in and through the act of ministering to people, we need more sustenance to keep us going. Spiritual sustenance that is. And prayer is exactly that. In prayer, we find strength to face the day.

But it's so much more than that, isn't it?

It's not simply about me and my filling so that I can face the day.

When faced with the challenge that ministry provides, I notice that I naturally linger toward the task of prayer. I pray for the people I'm talking to. I pray that God would use me. I pray that God would use my team. I pray that God would break down language barriers. I pray that God would soften hearts. I pray that God would nudge some to step forward in boldness and in faith.

Yet all of this disappears when I'm not in ministry. All of this ceases to be a priority when I'm comfortable. In my day to day school and work life, I don't have those same challenges and I therefore do not have the same tendencies to pray.

And since I can conclude that ministry is one such way to move beyond ourselves and into a place where we are praying for others and reaching out to others, I can conclude that ministry is also a good curative measure for many things. I look at something like depression and see how we tend to treat it with 'turtling'; we remove ourselves from any challenge, hide, and redirect all of our energy and strength inward. Yet it would seem that the best way to overcome depression would be to get out, to face the day, and to be in a state of prayer at all times.

You have to get on the eagle in order to fly on eagles wings.

Cheers.