Day two-hundred-eighty-five

First, a quick note: this blog has now surpassed 5000 views. Again, thank you to those of you who've hung with the blog through times of rejoicing and times of complaint. There have many days, especially recently, when I haven't felt like writing and have thought about taking the day off. By the grace of God, I've have the faithfulness to keep going each day, especially those times when I didn't feel like writing or I folding know what to write about. If nothing else, I've learned a little discipline in being faithful to keep writing.

This dovetails nicely into what I want to write about, tonight. Today, in Doulos, our soon-to-be-ex-pastor Travis gave his last message, finishing the book of Ephesians. In particular, we finished the portion of chapter six on the armor of God, and specifically, on prayer. He showed us how prayer should be disciplined, passionate, constant, petitioning, and universal.

What was convicting to me was that it made me realize how lacking my prayer life has been. I have t been giving God my undivided attention in prayer recently, and the range of my prayer has been so narrow, not offering up prayers for others as I could be. Travis also remarked about how we may pray over a particular sin in our lives and them immediately return to it, struck a chord with me. I realized that there were sins I've been struggling with because I've been remorseful but I haven't really repented from them. Even today, I've begun praying that the Lord would cultivate true repentance in me over these sins.

I'm glad I went to church today. I'm always glad when I go, because I usually end up hearing something I needed to hear. Lately, my attendance has grown rather lax and I've suffered spiritually for it. Today was a reminder of the blessings of fellowship and how I need to embrace fellowship at every opportunity.