ORU DAILY BREAD : TEXTING GOD

[cimi]

March 22
Monday


TEXTING GOD

READ:
Colossians 1:3-12
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[We] do not cease to
pray for you.
__Colossians 1:9
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An article in The Washington Post told about a 15-year-old girl who sent and received 6,473 cell phone text messages in a single month. She says about her constant communication with friends, "I would die without it." And she is not alone. Researchers say that US teens with cell phones average more than 2,200 text messages a month.

To me, this ongoing digital conversation offers a remarkable illustration of what prayer could and should be like for every follower of Christ. Paul seemed to be constantly in an attitude of prayer for others: "[We] do not cease to pray for you" (Col. 1:9). "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" (Eph. 6:18).
Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17). But how can we possibly do that?

Missionary Frank Laubach described his habit of "shooting" prayers at people as he encountered them during the course of each day. In a sense, he was "texting" God on their behalf, staying in constant communication with the Father. Laubach believed that prayer is the mightiest force in the world, and said: "My part is to live in this hour in continuous inner conversation with God and in perfect responsiveness to His will."

Pray without ceasing. Perhaps what Paul urged us to do can be done. __David McCasland
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`````````````````Give me a sprit of prayer, dear Lord,`````````````
```````````````````That I may commune with Thee````````````````
`````````````````As I travel along life's rugged road,```````````````
```````````````In Thy company always to be. __Dawe`````````````
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Prayer should become as natural as breathing.

*************Today's Bible Reading __ Colossians 1:3-12***********

3 We give thanks to the
God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, praying always
for you, 4 since we heard of
your faith in Christ Jesus
and of your love for all the
saints; 5 because of the hope
which is laid up for you in
heaven, of which you heard
before in the word of the
truth of the gospel, 6 which
has come to you, as it has
also in all the world, and is
bringing forth fruit, as it is
also among you since the
day you heard and knew the
grace of God in truth; 7 as
you also learned from
Epaphras, our dear fellow
servant, who is a faithful
minister of Christ on your
behalf, 8 who also declared
to us your love in the spirit.

9 For this reason we also,
since the day we heard it, do
not cease to pray for you,
and to ask that you may be
filled with the knowledge of
His will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding;

10 that you may walk worthy
of the Lord, fully pleasing
Him, being fruitful in every
good work and increasing in
the knowledge of God;

11 strengthened with all
might, according to His
glorious power, for all
patience and longsuffering
with joy, 12 giving thanks to
the Father who has qualified
us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in
the light.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Paul wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon (the
Prison Epistles) while in prison (Acts 28:14-31; Col. 4:3,10,18), most
likely during his first Roman imprisonment while under house arrest
(AD 60-62). When Epaphras (4:12) brought news of a dangerous
heresy confronting the Colossian believers, Paul responded with this
letter, possibly penned by Timothy (1:11). It was carried to them by
Tychicus (4:7-8), who accompanied the runaway slave Onesimus
back to Philemon (4:9; Philem. 9-11). Philemon was also a member
of the Colossian church (Col. 4:9). __SIM KAY TEE