FEBRUARY 23

PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7

DO YOU APPROACH GOD?
"Doesn’t Justin ever quit talking?" complained Joanne. "He’s always bothering me. I wish he’d leave me alone." She snapped her ngers. "I know what will x him. I’ll give him the silent treatment!"

When Justin ran into the house a little later, Joanne retreated to her room. Soon Justin banged on her door and called out to her, but she turned up the volume on her radio so she couldn’t hear what he said. After several attempts to get her attention, Justin gave up and walked away.

As Joanne was watching TV later, Justin tried to speak, but Joanne covered her ears and began to hum. I’ll teach him, she thought. At dinnertime, Joanne went to the kitchen. She noticed that Justin had changed clothes. "Are you going somewhere, Justin?" asked Dad. Justin nodded. "I’m going to our neighbours the Lees for a short movie on the Grand Canyon," he said. "And Mrs Lee will bake her yummy cookies too." " That sounds like fun," said Dad. He looked at Joanne. "You’re not going?" he asked. "I wasn’t invited," Joanne answered crossly. "You were, too!" said Justin. "I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen." "Oh, no!" wailed Joanne.

Later that evening, Joanne approached her parents. "Can you help me with an assignment our Sunday school department is doing?" she asked. "We’ll be having some lessons on prayer, and our teacher is going to bring a treat for everybody who turns in a short essay on the subject. There’s a prize for the best paper from each class, too. But I don’t know what to write."

"Hmmm," murmured Dad. "Well, maybe you could talk about the importance of prayer. You could tell about how you missed out on some fun today by refusing to communicate with your brother. en remind your readers that we all lose out on blessings when we fail to communicate with the Lord." "I’m afraid you’re right," agreed Mom. "When we do that, I believe He is grieved, and it certainly hurts us as well." Dad nodded. "We need to keep open communication with Him and not try to work things out all on our own," he said. "He wants us to talk with Him about everything."

Thought: Do you talk to God about your problems? Do you ask Him to help you find the best way to solve them?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, indeed often I don’t pray enough. I don’t come to You enough to talk about my problems and worries. Help me so that prayer will become part of me that I’d automatically pray to You come what may. In His precious name I ask – amen.