Lent #13: Discipline 3 of 7 – Prayer.

Pray without ceasing.

(First Thessalonians 5:17)

“It’s Been a Year,” a poem by Gary’s daughter lamenting the loss of her daddy. After several stanzas; she concludes the poem with these three lines:

            We miss daddy so, even though his mind was diseased

            Yet we find such comfort

            Knowing he is healed and in heaven with Thee.                         

We might expect the poem to end: “Knowing he is …in heaven.” But Michelle adds two more words, “with Thee.” That concluding “Thee,” turns her poem into a prayer. We can’t presume. That’s why we pray.

That must be what it means to “pray without ceasing.” We can’t find comfort and eternal healing apart from “Thou who hearest prayer” (Ps 65:2). Without “Thee,” why write a poem?