One day with the Lord (got a minute?)

Originally appeared on spirituality.com

The Bible tells us, “…one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (II Peter 3:8). While pondering this statement, I performed a few calculations: It would mean that each hour with the Lord is worth 42 years of trying to figure things out humanly. And as I broke it down further, every minute with the Lord is worth eight months of going at it alone!

Consider the Exodus story in the Bible. What if the children of Israel had spent just one hour collectively praying about entering their future homeland? Might they have saved themselves 40 years of wandering in the desert of human hopes and fears?

Prayer can be likened to pushing the pause button on a TV remote. But instead of proceeding with the next programmed scene, effective prayer has the ability to determine the next scene, changing it from one of impulsive human reaction to a loving spiritual response. Prayer magnifies God’s allness, giving us the ability to see through fear’s mask and to behold the “face of God”: the healing solution which is always at hand.

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