Sandwiches and prayer...

I try to take my lunch when I'm at work. Buying it everyday can start to get expensive.
But if I do need to buy something, there is a lovely sandwich shop which is always my preference.

I like going there because the bread is usually great.

That's right the bread!

Usually when we think of sandwiches its all about the fillings. The combinations of meat, cheese, salad, dressing or other fancy things that get your taste buds going.

We don't always give much thought to the bread. It's kinda functional. Just there to serve a purpose...not really the main point.

But a sandwich wouldn't be a sandwich without the bread and the quality of the bread can make or break the sandwich.

And I think it's like that with prayer...

...ok, so you now think I'm crazy...but just hear me out...

Prayer is an integral part of our relationship with God. It is all of our communication with Him. But often we get distracted by the more 'interesting', more fun or cooler parts of the relationship. We get caught up with our serving, our activities, our testimony or faith story. We want to make the filling as tasty and attractive as possible. But if the bread, our communication with God and God's word to us and in us, is stale then the whole thing will be bad.

I think it's the same in all relationships. If the communication is off then the whole relationship will be out of kilter. You can't enjoy other aspects of the relationship if you can't or don't communicate well.

If our communication with God is struggling, then it only makes sense that it will have an impact on the whole relationship.

I know that I have a tendency to view prayer as functional and definitely don't have the prayer life I could/should/want to. Its sometimes too easy to miss the importance of prayer and how much of an impact it can have. It should really be the main point.

We need to be in good communication with God. Only He knows the plans He has for us. Only He can direct our feet and light our paths. Only He knows what things we need to encounter.

So, next time you have a sandwich think about your prayer life and whether its as fresh as it could be!