Without the starter, your prayer life isn't going anywhere

Have you ever had the starter go out on your car? It might go like this. You force yourself out of bed early, shower, dress, and get ready to go to work. You get behind the wheel of your car, turn the key, and the engine doesn't start.

Without a starter, you aren't going anywhere.

If we could ask one of history's greatest experts on prayer what is the starter in the life of communing with God, what would he say? Brother Lawrence (17th-century monk), famous for his practice of continual prayer, said that for him, everything started with thinking great thoughts of God. In other words, theology is the starter. He wasn't an educated man, but he knew enough about God to get the motor going. One's theology could be as simple as "God is great, God is good." In fact, most biblical theology is summed up in those two sentences that many of us learned as kids.

If you want to go through the hours aware of God rather than forgetful of him... if you want to have a good dose of God's peacefulness, love, and tranquility... if you want to be more aware of God's presence within and around you... the motor is prayer. But the starter that gets the motor running is thinking great thoughts about God.

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