Prayer

Pray without ceasing. 
1 Thessalonians 5:17 

Today I was blessed by having the morning off...

This afternoon, however, is the weekly prayer meeting in the chapel. It goes from 12:45 to 2:45, and this is followed by my chaplain's own Bible study class, which lasts for about fifty minutes before I must return to my cell.

There are many people, needs and situations to pray for and about. My own list seems endless. But I do try to pray for at least one nation each day, or if God leads me to do so, I will pray for a particular country throughout the week, or until God releases me from doing so.

This week, for instance, I am concentrating on the nation of Chad. It's a landlocked country of more than four million people that's located in Central Africa. Much of it is barren, parched desert. In Chad there's intense suffering, starvation, civil war and social unrest. Sick children are everywhere, and emaciated adults drop-dead in the streets.

While I never have a shortage of things to pray for, it is a challenge to discipline myself to have a consistent prayer life. This is something I continue to strive for, and I often find myself having to ask the Lord for the strength to pray, and what specifically to pray for at any given time. After all, prayer is too important to neglect.

D.B.