“What did you learn today?”
That is a question that has poked its nose into my business for a long time. I'm sure my parents asked me this question. I suspect yours made the grand inquisition as well. But I really didn't "get it" until I read the question in the context of Leo Buscaglia's dinner table.
Leo Buscadlia's father was intensely interested that his son lean into life. That meant nights at the dinner table always included the question, "What did you learn today?" In Papa, My Father, Buscaglia recounts how knowing that question was coming often left him scampering for any piece of information he could share before he sat down to the table.
The book is short and a delightful read.
Were I asked that question at the dinner table last night, I would have said, "I learned what praying without ceasing looks like.
“Pray without ceasing.”
I learned it from my friends and colleagues in ministry that you see in the picture in this post: Jon Elswick (Crossway Church), Rodney Wilkinson (Gospel Fellowship), Jimmy Purchase (Crossway), Casey Cleveland (The Avenue Church), and Daniel Kiedis (Spanish River Church).
We spent a day together mapping out a preaching/small group series for our churches entitled, "Famous Unbelievers" (it's going to be great, but more on that later).
We prayed before we started. We prayed when we hit a snag. We prayed when we took a break. We prayed to stop and give thanks to God for what he revealed to us in our discussions. At the end our or day we prayed over Daniel (who has led this process the last three years) as he and his family are leaving for a new role with Conscious Minds in Pasadena California.
There was no fanfare to the praying. No holy jargon. No long-drawn out thees and thous. No particular eloquence. It was simple, heartfelt, and to-the-point praising, thanking, and asking.
This "God conversation" was spontaneous and natural.
All of these prayers were initiated by my friends. That tells me that praying is obviously a part of their everyday walk with God. Their actions demonstrated what Paul meant when he wrote those words to the Thessalonian church.
“Pray without ceasing.”
We prayed audibly, but you could just as well pray silently . . . at a meal, before you walk into a meeting, as you drop off a child at school, or walk into a difficult conversation.
Being in constant communication with God is not that hard. What would it look like it for you to carry on a conversation with God all through the day today?
“Pray without ceasing!”