Taking time to pray

1 Chronicles 16:8 marks the beginning of a prayer of thanks that David offers to God. This prayer, and the prayers that follow in 1 Chronicles 17, happen before a major military engagement with the philistines in 1 Chronicles 18. Conventional wisdom would have been to rally the troops, prepare a strategy, and consult his generals. Instead David turns like a flower towards the sun, and commits himself to prayer.

Unfortunately, we’re more often like a flower that has no time for the sun. We neglect our prayer life, and subscribe to conventional wisdom. More than a cursory “check in the box”, a devoted prayer life is our opportunity to turn towards the sun and to be fed.

John Wesley once wrote, “I have so much to do, that I must spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.” Carve out time today to be with God, to be warmed by his presence.


1 Chronicles 16:8