When I was young,
We said grace at home, and prayers were said at church.
We said grace at home, and prayers were said at church.
We said grace at home, and prayers were said at church.
When I was young, that is all I knew about prayer.
Obviously, I never prayed about my studies in school, I never prayed about how to be a better baseball player, and I never prayed about seeking a job, a career, or going to college. I never prayed about these things because: I never knew I could.
Even after entering the Army, I never prayed. I never prayed during basic training, nor in the year that followed when I was still stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and, of all places, I never prayed when I was in Vietnam. I never prayed because: I never knew I could.
After returning from Vietnam, I never prayed. I never prayed about a job, or a career, or about using my G. I. Bill and going to college. I never prayed about these things because: I never knew I could.
In those years that followed my return from Vietnam, I lived some years of misery.
Something happened in 1983 that changed my life when my years of misery became years of hope.
For it was in that year, 1983, when my family and I were led of the Lord to Glen Haven Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia, and that was the beginning of my education in the knowledge of prayer. This was something new to me, something refreshing, and something I had never heard before. It was then that I learned that I could pray to God about anything and everything in my life. Still, I made mistakes and foolish decisions, for learning to lean on God was also new to me.
For the brevity of time, let me offer two illustrations about prayer.
ILLUSTRATION NUMBER ONE:
After retiring in 2009 and from setting my sight on golf, I stopped and did the one thing I had learned to do: I prayed about it.
But the beginning of my golf experience, however, was nothing to brag about, for I was chopping and hacking, digging holes on the fairways, and hitting golf balls all over the world. This was not fun. I had prayed about it, but had God forgotten about me? No, for I was trying to play out of my own knowledge and not the knowledge of golf. In time, the Lord led me to a certain man, who taught me the fundaments of golf, and after that my game began to improve and improve because I was willing to listen to my golf coach as well as willing to devote hours and hours to practice. Therefore in time I was able to par the golf course three times, hit four eagles, as well as sink a hole-in-one. But those were my good days on the course and I still had some bad days when I wanted to hide my scorecard!
ILLUSTRATION NUMBER TWO:
A young man called me in the summer of 2011 and asked me to promise him that I would write something about God. I was stunned by such a request, for nobody had never asked me to write something about God before.
After considering the matter, however, I agreed with him and made the promise, but with one stipulation: that I did not how and I did not know when that an undertaking such as this would begin, for writing about God, to me, is a big deal. Thus I did as I had done before: I prayed about.
But it would not be until the end of November of 2011 before the Lord finalized my desire to write about Him, and that was when I launched a blog that I named the 7th Highway: a blog that would be about God, about Christ, and about the Bible---and not about me.
Let me tell you, too, that these five and a half years of writing the 7th Highway have produced the greatest years of my life! Not only that, but because of God and the power of prayer, I have also received the greatest education a person can receive in the knowledge of God. This was far more than I had expected. As of today, these stories I have written and published on the internet have reached nearly 50,000 people in the United States as well as people in 105 foreign nations on six continents.
Who would have ever thought that this country boy from North Carolina would ever write about God that would be read by so many people worldwide? I never did. Even now, I stand amazing at God's amazing desire to do a work through a wretch like me: a sinner saved by grace.
But I am reminded, however, that Jesus said, "without me ye can do nothing". (John 15: 5)
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11: 1)
Without Him, my golf game would still be in the rough, and, without Him, the 7th Highway would have never become visible.
When I was young, I never knew about the power of prayer.
All I can say now is this:
never leave home without it.
We said grace at home, and prayers were said at church.
We said grace at home, and prayers were said at church.
We said grace at home, and prayers were said at church.
When I was young, that is all I knew about prayer.
Obviously, I never prayed about my studies in school, I never prayed about how to be a better baseball player, and I never prayed about seeking a job, a career, or going to college. I never prayed about these things because: I never knew I could.
Even after entering the Army, I never prayed. I never prayed during basic training, nor in the year that followed when I was still stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and, of all places, I never prayed when I was in Vietnam. I never prayed because: I never knew I could.
After returning from Vietnam, I never prayed. I never prayed about a job, or a career, or about using my G. I. Bill and going to college. I never prayed about these things because: I never knew I could.
In those years that followed my return from Vietnam, I lived some years of misery.
Something happened in 1983 that changed my life when my years of misery became years of hope.
For it was in that year, 1983, when my family and I were led of the Lord to Glen Haven Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia, and that was the beginning of my education in the knowledge of prayer. This was something new to me, something refreshing, and something I had never heard before. It was then that I learned that I could pray to God about anything and everything in my life. Still, I made mistakes and foolish decisions, for learning to lean on God was also new to me.
For the brevity of time, let me offer two illustrations about prayer.
ILLUSTRATION NUMBER ONE:
After retiring in 2009 and from setting my sight on golf, I stopped and did the one thing I had learned to do: I prayed about it.
But the beginning of my golf experience, however, was nothing to brag about, for I was chopping and hacking, digging holes on the fairways, and hitting golf balls all over the world. This was not fun. I had prayed about it, but had God forgotten about me? No, for I was trying to play out of my own knowledge and not the knowledge of golf. In time, the Lord led me to a certain man, who taught me the fundaments of golf, and after that my game began to improve and improve because I was willing to listen to my golf coach as well as willing to devote hours and hours to practice. Therefore in time I was able to par the golf course three times, hit four eagles, as well as sink a hole-in-one. But those were my good days on the course and I still had some bad days when I wanted to hide my scorecard!
ILLUSTRATION NUMBER TWO:
A young man called me in the summer of 2011 and asked me to promise him that I would write something about God. I was stunned by such a request, for nobody had never asked me to write something about God before.
After considering the matter, however, I agreed with him and made the promise, but with one stipulation: that I did not how and I did not know when that an undertaking such as this would begin, for writing about God, to me, is a big deal. Thus I did as I had done before: I prayed about.
But it would not be until the end of November of 2011 before the Lord finalized my desire to write about Him, and that was when I launched a blog that I named the 7th Highway: a blog that would be about God, about Christ, and about the Bible---and not about me.
Let me tell you, too, that these five and a half years of writing the 7th Highway have produced the greatest years of my life! Not only that, but because of God and the power of prayer, I have also received the greatest education a person can receive in the knowledge of God. This was far more than I had expected. As of today, these stories I have written and published on the internet have reached nearly 50,000 people in the United States as well as people in 105 foreign nations on six continents.
Who would have ever thought that this country boy from North Carolina would ever write about God that would be read by so many people worldwide? I never did. Even now, I stand amazing at God's amazing desire to do a work through a wretch like me: a sinner saved by grace.
But I am reminded, however, that Jesus said, "without me ye can do nothing". (John 15: 5)
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11: 1)
Without Him, my golf game would still be in the rough, and, without Him, the 7th Highway would have never become visible.
When I was young, I never knew about the power of prayer.
All I can say now is this:
never leave home without it.
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