June 12 Forgetting how to pray?

I Kings 8:56-58 Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him, to talk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers.

I don't know about you, but I find it so much easier to pray for other people than I do for myself. When I came upon this passage yesterday, it struck me once again, about how we can take God for granted, and about how we need to read Scripture to see how others before us related to God.

• May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers. I think here about my spiritual fathers, and how God has so blessed them with his presence, enabling them to persevere and to finish well, showing us the way through some very deep valleys.

• May he never leave us nor forsake us. I love this part of the prayer because it always brings to mind the New Testament passage that says, "He will never leave nor forsake us." Hebrews 13:5

• Me he turn our hearts to him. Oh how I know I need this part of the prayer. It is so easy for our hearts to turn in other directions, to be distracted or attracted by things of the world.

• To talk in all his ways. His ways - loving, merciful, forgiving, kind, joyful. Talking in His ways takes practice and immersion in His Word and ways. I think that is why we are encouraged to continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of...II Tim. 3:14-17

• To keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. This boils down neatly - Love God and behave in loving ways toward others because you do love them. Matt. 22: 37-40 It really is all summed up here - all those laws and regulations were designed by God for the good of His peopleand are summed up in the command to love.