The Plumbline

We have all probably encountered those who don't like to pray in public - kind of shying away from being asked to do the honors of saying grace or the like. Then there are those who seem to like it very much, almost going to the extreme when doing so - as though the grandeur of their words would somehow unlock heavens gates for the beckoned answer quicker than any other "key".  When you run into someone who actually knows God in a deep, personal way, you realize the simplicity of their prayers is really quite moving.  As a mother, I always loved it when my kids would just reach out to pray for the thumb I had hit with the hammer, or the splinter I had managed to embed in my hand while doing yard work.  They were simple prayers, but I knew heaven took special notice of them - because they were genuine.  Just simple "Jesus heal mommy's splinter" opened my heart to heaven, so I knew it had to open heaven to me! When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites.

Sincere:   free of hypocrisy, deceit, or falseness; earnest; genuine, real. Steadfast:   fixed in direction, steadily directed; firm in purpose, resolution; firmly established. Wow!  Today's traits are pretty overwhelming when you read those definitions, but they are quite possible for the one whose life is tapped into the wisdom, knowledge and understanding which only comes from being intimately connected with Christ.  Most of us desire to live free of hypocrisy, yet when it comes to being totally "real", it is quite a different story, isn't it?  We somehow perceive we will be "judged" if we are who we are, so we "play act" a little to kind of "cover up" what we think others don't want to know about us.  The truth be told, the other person is probably doing the same.  This is why so many newly married couples have a rude awakening when they actually are married and not just dating.  We put our best foot forward in dating, don'