Prayer Soil
“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.” (Mark 4:3)
Perhaps you recall the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4, Mt 13, Luke 8). I have always heard the seed is my witness and the soil are different people – some rocky, shallow and unfertile, some with tangled weeds in their lives, some that have birds of doubt and anger eat it up before it can sink in.
I wonder if it is not also my attitude as I pray. If my thoughts are shallow and crowded with the rocks in my path of life, can I really hear my Lord’s response and receive His blessing and mercy? Or are my thoughts as dry ground – hard and unreceptive, so the seed of Truth cannot penetrate? Do my emotions of anger or hurt or doubt act like the birds and just swoop it away? Perhaps a problem I am having, or sorrow over someone dear to me has me all tangled up , and God’s response to my prayer gets strangled.
In order to have fertile soil in which to plant my prayers, I need the Gardner to first help me lay the groundwork. I need to acknowledge Him as the only One who can do that. I need to clear out all the rocks and weeds and shoo away the birds by confessing my sins, and perhaps water it with my contrite tears. Then, my prayer soil will be receptive to the seed- to germinate and blossom. Then I can grow in Christ and grow closer to God.
Dear Lord, I want the seed of Your ocmofrt, Truth and Mercy penetrate my heart and my life. Help me to leave all the obstacles to growing in faith behind, so You may gow in me and take root more an more in my Heart. I want to be so firmly planted in You that nothing will make my faith wither. Amen
“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalm 1:3
