Take time to pray

Poem written by Regine Anne Baldomar

I got up early one morning,
And rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish,
I didn’t have time to pray.

Troubles just tumbled about me,
And heavier came each task.
"Why doesn’t God help me?" I wondered.

He answered, "You didn’t ask."

I tried to come into God’s presence;
I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
"Why, child, you didn’t knock."

I wanted to see joy and beauty,
But the day toiled on gray and bleak.
I wondered why God didn’t show me.
He said, "You didn’t seek."

I woke up early this morning,
And paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish
That I had to take time to pray.

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I came across this poem in a newsletter email today. I remember reading this before years ago, and I remember that it encouraged me then.

As I read it again today, I feel encouraged once again. So many times, I find myself guilty of rushing through my day, not taking the time to pray in the morning before entering the day. I take it for granted that I can have everything under my control, as long as I plan it well. It isn't difficult to guess that "troubles just tumbled about me", and how "the day toiled on gray and bleak".

God is loving and merciful, yet He wants us to seek Him because He wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. The Bible tells us to Ask, Seek and Knock in Matthew 7:7-12.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

This short poem has reminded me that the best way to start my day is not to have the most satisfying breakfast nor the best cup of coffee. The best way to start my day is to seek the Lord by praying and reading His word, and committing the rest of the day into His loving hands.

For it is written, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4