by Pastor Douglas Brauner

An Invitation into God’s Heart

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

I would not consider myself a champion of prayer which might sound odd to you since God called me into pastoral ministry for forty years. I’ve always struggled to talk with God. Maybe you share the same battle.

In my daily devotions, the Scriptures encourage me to pray.

“The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:5b-7 English Standard Version

I hear Paul’s encouragement to pray, and it’s not that I lack anything to share with God. It’s not as if I enter my devotions in the morning saying to God, “Well God, there’s really nothing in my life that I need to share with you, so let’s go about the day and we’ll meet again tomorrow morning.” It is not an exaggeration for me to think that I could fill a page of requests that I could bring before the throne of grace today.

Even the rocks remind me how important it is to communicate with God. I stumbled across this rock formation while strolling through the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. At that moment, around 4:00 pm on a mild January day, the light was perfect to picture stone fingers clasped together in prayer with a head turned away as if the rocks were in grief.

The Scriptures and God’s creation remind us that prayer is an invitation into the heart of the Father through Jesus. It was Jesus’ head turned in grief at the coming cross and his refusal to find the “easy” way that is our only road to the Father’s heart. It is Jesus who reminds us that prayer is not a burden but a gift of his grace, his mercy. It is through grace that our heart’s requests meet his heart.

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado