Scheduled Prayers?

I'm currently sitting down in my office on a Friday afternoon during lunch time. I decided that I would not go out for lunch since the scorching sun would make my whole face red due to the heat it radiates thus, I took my meal in my work canteen. After finished eating my lunch, I walked back to my cubicle and I saw there' so few people left in the office. It came upon me that today I should be having my long lunch break since the Muslims are off to prayer in the masjids. As I start to think back of those time when I eat with my colleagues in ASE, we would travel great distances to enjoy a meal together in somewhere else besides the usual food court we go to during the weekdays.

Coming back to the thought the Muslims having their prayers on Friday afternoon, one thought came upon me which is their scheduled prayers. If you have not known, a Muslim prays 5 times a day facing Mekkah and on Fridays, they would all go to the nearby masjid to have their corporate prayer. Sounds much like our prayer meetings on Wednesday, just that this one only one person does the praying and everyone follows. I asked myself whether would I be so diligent in my prayers with God that I should schedule some time just like the Muslims to pray. Then I thought to myself, "Nah, we Christians don't need this since we can pray anytime we want and anywhere since God is omni-presence." So I don't need this 5 times prayer kinda thing. I can pray whenever I want and wherever I want.

However when I thought about it more seriously, I found out that I've taken this advantage for granted. I wouldn't pray like what Scripture tells us to pray unceasingly whether in season or out of season. To always keep in mind that God is in your daily life and He's there just right there with you. It's kinda irony when we say God is always with us and around us but we don't talk to him as much as we do to our friends. When we don't see our best friends, we sms them with 2-3 pages long of words and when we receive a reply, we would then be so excited about it and start gazing at our handsets busy reading the replies we get and then start getting busy with the keypads to reply. Talking on the phone with a person of the opposite sex is always a long one when you have time in your hands. We can talk and talk and talk until our parents starts to frown at us from a distance then only we'll stop.

The more I think about it, the more unaware I have been for the past few months that I have lost my interest speaking to God frequently. Last few months ago, I would tell God everything even when I walk, sit and work or even do business in the toilet (hehehe). I always find myself talking in the air when I'm alone and if I'm discovered, I'll quickly speak softly. Haha But then as I thought about it now, I only prays when I'm in need or in trouble. I felt that I have treated God as my Saviour only and not my Lord. Whenever there's trouble, I cry Save me Lord, Save me! But when I'm doing fine, I'll just relax and forget about Him. I think it's time for me to buckle up as God had always been waiting for me to commune with Him. He have not failed to answer me in everything yet it is I that have failed Him. It is I that was the unfaithful one.

Back to the point, certainly I don't need a scheduled prayer time slot in my life but it is high time that I should start to pray unceasingly with or without a cause because my Lord enjoys speaking to me and I to Him. Let us cultivate this habit that God is always beside us, in fact He is IN us. Thus, let us not forget to remind ourselves that we are not alone regardless of where we may be in.

"18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" Eph 6:18