Welcome my friend.  We’ll be sitting in my beautiful garden today as Spring has sprung here on the east coast of Australia!

We’re surrounded by African daisies with their lilac centres, pink, red & coral Azaleas & the sweet scent of Gum blossoms on the air. Such breathtaking beauty!

We’re enjoying a slice of freshly baked gf Apple & Cinnamon loaf, absolutely delicious! With a cup of Russian Caravan tea.

You may be wondering what Prayer & Profit is all about?

Well, we’ll be exploring this today.

Let’s begin…

You may be aware, if you join me here often, since blogging I have been in the habit of taking a word/theme for the year that has been highlighted to me.

For a more intense focus of reflection throughout that year.

In 2020 it was the word, ‘Release’ & its relationship to the ancient Year of Jubilee. That year I witnessed a release in God’s perfect timing in answering a prayer for two of my loved ones that I had prayed for forty years.

In  2021 it was the word, ‘Prayer’ itself.

In 2022 it was an extension of the word Prayer in the theme, ‘Ask with intent’.

This year it’s ‘Season‘ ~ Hebrew meaning, ‘an appointed time’.

I’m finding that Season means many more things then I had ever previously imagined.

Replacing the word ‘Season’ with its original meaning of ‘an appointed time’ for the circumstances in my life has brought much wisdom & understanding.

So what does Profit have to do with Prayer?

In 2021, I posted about a little gem I had read, it was a composite of Oswald Chambers writings titled; Prayer, A Holy Occupation.

I shared how I had enjoyed it’s simplicity in content & teaching, recently I have revisited this book.

In the introduction Oswald made some very poignant points which we’ll go into more depth today.

In the following quote he makes a very provocative statement;

“The job of every Christian is to pray. Plain & simple. Yet we want to do more than simply pray. We want to do something important for God; we want to be someone important to Him. We want to build; we want to mobilize; we want to show our strength & exert our influence. Prayer seems like such a small thing to do-next to nothing at all in fact.” *

But Jesus viewed Prayer vastly different to how we view Prayer today! Oswald goes on to say;

” To Him (Jesus) prayer is everything; it’s a duty as well as a privilege, a right as well as a responsibility. We use  prayer as a last resort; Jesus wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there’s nothing else we can do; Jesus want us to pray before we do anything at all.” *

To Jesus Prayer, which is taking time out to sit in the presence & commune with our Heavenly Father is extremely important.

In fact it can be seen in the scriptures that communing with the Father was always in the forefront of Jesus mind.

Prayer is definitely the most profitable Occupation!

Prayer is definitely a Holy Occupation as it’s the only one that opposes the fast paced world we live in & opposes anything that the enemy may throw at us.

Prayer brings us into a time of quiet confidence with our Heavenly Father.

So, if Prayer is a Holy occupation, why don’t we have a fervour for its true value? 

Oswald Chambers goes on to address this;

“…most of us would rather spend our time doing something that will get immediate results. We don’t want to wait for God to bring about the results in His good time because His idea of  “good time” is seldom in sync with ours.

And so we try to help God along. Many times we even try to answer our own prayers.” *

Isn’t that the truth! And often times we see prayer as a chore rather then a Holy Occupation!

I believe the reason for this is that we often see prayer as an addition to our lives rather than an integral part.

Let me explain…

You may have noticed in life that we can get so focused upon our daily routine that we often view our spiritual life as a seperate entity.

But God tells us that our physical & spiritual life are inherently intertwined, especially when we accept Jesus as Lord & Saviour;

“Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God?”

1  Corinthians 6:19 AMP

So, communing with our Heavenly Father, as Jesus taught & demonstrated throughout His life on Earth, is extremely important & profitable!

For He said it stores up treasures for eternity;

“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal…” Matt 6:20 NASB 

What treasures (profit) are we storing in Heaven? 

Souls;  all those who came to know Jesus as their Lord & Saviour through our acts of love that were undergirded by prayer. Many of whom we won’t even know until we meet them in Heaven!

So let us enter this wondrous & most profitable of Occupations Now.

Until next time,

Jennifer

You’re most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook

Or in Prayer

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© 2023 Jennifer M. Ross, teawithjennifer.blog All Rights Reserved.  

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* Chambers, Oswald.,  Prayer : A Holy Occupation, Oswald Chambers Pub Assoc. Discovery House Pub. 1992, pp. 7. (Italics & bold mine).  Disclaimer;  no monetary gain was had from mentioning this book.