Good morning everyone,

1 Peter 4:7-8-The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

The apostle Peter was addressing at the time a church going through persecution, knowing that one of the signs of the end times is persecution. So Peter wanted the believers to hold onto their faith and be strengthened to go through it in prayer. Peter knew that a lack of self-control and muddled thinking about life would cause an individual to "leave off" faith in prayer in order to have God’s perspective, and find a way to deal with such pressures alone.

Such a message is very helpful for us today. Though we in America are not facing the particular "kind" of persecution the early churches faced, we are still facing the distress of living in the end times. Yet I wonder how many of us think about the "time" we live in? Yet the way we think about the "times" we live in is a major indicator as to how we live within them. To be impulsive and unclear as to what life is about, is not a mind that considers the immediate reality of God and the "end as near". Which is why I believe many Christians struggle to pray like in their in a relationship with God, and seek to pray only when things seem "wrong".

In our day, many of us don’t pray until we absolutely know we can’t do nothing about a problem (sicknesses, finances, relationships, etc.) instead of praying "relationally". So we struggle to pray when those things are "easy" going. Because somehow we equate no problems with being right with God, not true! It maybe that things are falling apart because we didn’t pray during the times of "ease" to know God, which He desires (Exodus 34 v 14). Neglect to prayer is to not be sober-minded, which literally means to be without intoxicating influences on the mind. To be both sober-minded and self-controlled is to be at peace and not taking away control from God. So in these last days as struggles are promised to increase (2 Timothy 3 v1), we cannot afford to allow a short-sighted perspective to muddle our minds and influence impulsive decisions that actually keep us from prayer, obedience, and knowing God deeper.

In His Love, Ld