"Pray without ceasing." I Thessalonians 5:17
Good morning, friends!
France has some of the strangest hours for businesses that I know of. It is not unusual for businesses to be closed on weekends, closed on Mondays, closed from noon to 2 pm, and then closed the entire month of August.
Yes, I said the ENTIRE month of August.
If a French holiday falls close to the weekend, for example a Thursday, then a lot of businesses and even schools will do "a bridge" that takes off the Friday and then into the weekend. It's the same for holidays that fall on a Wednesday: businesses that are closed on Monday will take Tuesday off and extend the weekend.
There is no method to the madness. Once you think you have things figured out ("OK, stores in town are closed on Monday,") you walk to a shop which you really need to visit, only to find out that they are OPEN on Mondays, and closed on Thursday afternoons.
I think the businesses do it just to keep us guessing. Bienvenue en France! (Welcome to France!)
I have been thinking much about prayer since the Ladies' Retreat in Belgium. One of the areas of my life where the Lord really challenged me is stated in the verse above: "Pray without ceasing." Is this a realistic expectation for my life? Can I really live every moment of every day in a constant act of prayer?
A business sign at the retreat became a symbol to the attitude of my heart towards prayer with the Lord. Like the French businesses, many times a day my heart was "closed for business." I would go through my daily routines, making them just that--routines--without taking the time to pray. I would only pray at times when I "felt the need," when something so overwhelmed me that I knew the Lord was the only solution.
I had become a woman who prayed, but not a woman of prayer.
This verse in Thessalonians reminds me that my heart needs to be "continually open" to the Lord, breathing out requests to Him like a running conversation that plays as the soundtrack of my days. While I am working, or playing, eating or talking with others, I should be carefully listening for His voice and allowing His Holy Spirit to guide me.
When it is time for the Lord to "do business" in my heart--to convict me of sin--then I should be ready to accept that correction in the same way that I am ready to transact business in a store. After all, that is the point of "being open," isn't it?
My heart's desire for this year is to live my life in constant prayer with my Lord. I want the Lord to find me keeping shop with an open heart, ready for whatever business the Lord brings my way at any given time.
Is my heart open to the Lord today, or am I "closed for service?"
(My thanks to Patti Appleby for the illustration of the open/closed sign.)
Super spiritual application! We think France sounds worse than here, only similar, if that makes sense. Here, there are whole weeks in EVERY city that are off for fiestas, plus every saint's day, plus the bridges you referred to, etc. We always wondered when people actually work! And then, there are different hours for construction places, government offices, banks, etc. It's a riot! Places that are open on Saturday afternoons (not many) are closed on Monday mornings. Like you said, when you think you've got it figured out, you don't. I really enjoyed your post, especially the part about being open to God in an all-day conversation. Good stuff!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lou Ann! I'm still surprised many times by going somewhere, thinking it's open, and it's not. I pray the Lord will always find my heart open. Thanks for your encouragements!
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