Knee-Mail

 Hi everyone, 

Another week has flown by. I was able to take a breather and get some rest with a lighter schedule. How was your week?

Alright! First off, let me give credit to whom it's due. The title of this post comes from Nicole Mullen's song - Message For Ya. "Have you done your knee-mail lately" is the last line in the song. I rather liked the word so I borrowed it. Thanks Nicole!

You've probably guessed what knee-mail is. Old school people call it prayer. Generation Y or is it now Z will likely identify more with knee-mail. There's someone who will smile when he reads this, we often discuss whether kneeling is a requirement in prayer and we are yet to convince each other. So, while I don't think it's a requirement that you have to kneel to pray always, no doubt the act of kneeling is associated with supplication to a higher being, i.e. God.

Irrespective of your posture or position, prayer is critical for us as believers. Communication is critical for all relationships, both physical and spiritual. Prayer is our means of communication with God. Prayer comes in many forms and differing lengths but at the heart of it is two way communication.

We express our hearts to Him in song, actual spoken and unspoken requests for our needs and in our attitudes as well. He speaks to us via His Word, through His Spirit who gives us sometimes a word that just seeps into our hearts or just the quiet peace and assurance after a particularly uplifting time of praise, worship or regular prayer. If you have the prayer language of the Spirit, even better.

He uses other people to speak to us as well, from the pulpit, friends, family or nature itself. Have you ever looked at a sunrise and been reassured that there is God and He's all powerful? I felt that way about 5 weeks ago when I woke up about 30 mins before sunrise and just stayed outside watching the day gradually appear. I knew without a doubt that day, that God is very much alive and sure as the sun will rise, His Word will be fulfilled in my life.

How long? How often? There are no rigid rules on prayer. Joyce Meyer said its how long it takes for her to be full. Just like when you eat, sometimes you gobble a full plate, other times you just nibble around, because you're still full. One of the good things Jesus did for us (and there are many) is that we now have God in us, friends. He's no longer in some far away temple that we can only approach every so often. We can speak to and with Him as often as we want. He's a friend!

In my university days some friends of mine used to say I was always speaking to my self, and to things around me. Really what was happening was that I was (and still do) sharing my daily life and experience with God. He's the one person I can talk with about anything. If I'm cooking and I'm not sure if the salt is enough you may hear me say - Holy Spirit should I add more? That's how closely I relate with the God Head. If I'm studying and something doesn't quite make sense I relate it to Him and ask Him to explain it to me. Sometimes he does that by helping me to remember something the lecturer said, other times He gets me to ask some other human being, lol. Or maybe its a challenge with my family - I chat with Him about it (apart from specific prayer) asking for insights or wisdom or whatever it is that I'm needing.

Where am I going? Prayer is a vital part of our relationship with God. It's how we share our life with Him. It's not just about asking Him for stuff, that's part of it. However, I encourage us to go beyond that. Let's involve Him in our daily life, make Him your friend. That's what He really wants to be.

He's the best person to meet our emotional needs. No human being can meet all our emotional needs but He can, by himself and partly through the friendship and love of other human beings that He brings into our life.

So I hope that answers the question of How often and how long. There are days I wake up and just spend an hour in worship and praise. Sometimes just singing on my own. Other times, I play one of my worship playlists from Spotify (which has become the best thing since sliced bread for me). That may be all for dedicated prayer time that morning. The rest of the day would then be just chatting with Him in the course of the day.

Other days I wake up and just spend time praying in the Spirit. Yet on other days it's a combination of everything. Sometimes it's 30 minutes, other times it's an hour. When I require specific guidance I could pray in the Spirit for a few hours.

I want to encourage you to share your life with Him on a daily basis. Don't rely only on dedicated prayer times. That's good and needed but touch base and check in with Him often in the course of your day as well. That's really the point I want to make today.

I look forward to catching up again next week. Blessings on you and yours. Have a great weekend.

Your friend,

Olubunmi