Take Out

Take Out

   After a busy and hectic day of work and errands I will pick up some take out food for dinner instead of going home to cook. This is not a bad thing but of course it is not as good as making a home cook meal. It serves the purpose of giving quick hunger reliever  so I can just relax. The bad thing also is that it is not always the best food one should be eating. Like I said it just satisfies the hunger but really is not that nourishing. 

    So, what does take out have to do with Christian living you may ask? Take out is that quick fix for us and if we are not careful our prayer life can turn into that, a quick fix. Yes it will satisfy our prayer for the day but did you get anything out of the prayers? Did you really take that time to listen? Was your hunger for God truly satisfied or in two hours feel that emptiness again? There is more to prayer then just saying the words. It is that time where the rest of the world should subside and it is just you and God. It is that relaxing time in prayer where you are comfortable both physically and spiritually.  You get the chance to really listen and open your heart to God. The desires of your soul will flow and your heart will be filled by grace. In those moments your connection between your heart, mind and soul is one with God. This will not only satisfy your spiritual hunger but nourish you as well. It will sustain you. 

     This is not to say that those quick prayers do not help us but if we just try and satisfy  our hunger with them we are not getting all the nourishment we need in the long run. There needs to be a balance of the deep prayer along with the quick, on the go prayers. It is still better then not praying at all. You may just in the beginning of adding prayer to your life do those quick ones because that is all you know. That no one ever showed you how to pray any other way. Get some books on prayer or go to nights of prayer services at your church. Maybe join a prayer group. Test out different avenues of prayer so you can develop your own. 

      When we do the “take out” way to prayer we are limiting what we really want it to be like. The experience of it will be limited and not pierce the surface of what God wants for us to gain. Another example is when you get pasta sauce out vs making it fresh at home. I think we all can say sauce is not sauce. There are differences. What I buy does’t taste how I really want it to be. I still add my own spices to it. Then it is better but nothing beats when I make my own from scratch and everything is how I want it to be. It is the same with those quick fix prayers. Unless you add some of you into it, it will not be what you really want. It will just be that quick spiritual meal that later on you will be hungry for again. When it fits exactly for you and it is all of what you want in it then you will not only be spiritually filled but also satisfied. 

     The meaning at the core of this is what you put into your prayer life is what you will get out of it. If you are just doing those “quick take out versions” and nothing else then you may not feel you are being spiritually fed. When you add yourself to the prayer life and take the time you will find that you are filled. That after you walk away from the “table of God” you are filled. I still go by the idea of everything needing to be balanced. There will be those times where we are rushing and all we can do is those quick prayers  and that is fine but also make the time to sit down and relax and let that prayer time go so your mind, heart and soul can be filled at the same time. 

   Until tomorrow, God Bless, and don’t just lead a “take out” prayer life.