On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." Luke 25-28

About 5 or 6 years ago I made a confession to the Lord, my love for God was not what the scriptures said it should be. My morning devotional times were dry, my mind wandered, it was a task being there. I had a devotional time out of a sense of duty, not out of love for God. I questioned whether my life was bearing any spiritual fruit. I realized that if I stood before God that day I could not honestly say that I loved Him with all my heart, mind, soul and strength.

I was like a ship sailing into treacherous water; it was time to lighten the load and get rid of the jetsam that interfered with my devotion for God. Webster's New Standard Dictionary says that jetsam is part of a ship's cargo, which is thrown into the sea to lighten the vessel in case of peril. The lightening of my load began to happen for me through a process of confession, prayer, fasting and reading the Word. James 5:16 became a life verse for me. It says, "confess your sin one to another and pray for each other so that you may be healed." I believed in God's word and I knew that in this verse God had given me a way to make things right between He and I. When I feel the jetsam of the world attaching itself to my flesh, I confess my sin and ask God's people to pray for me that I would once again cast aside the jetsam that hinders me from making God my number one priority.

God has shown me over the years prayer is not just a duty, nor is it just a petitioning of Him for things that I want - God is not a vending machine. Prayer is a privilege of enormous magnitude and ultimately it is an expression of my relationship with the Almighty.

Prayer and the Word joined together are at the very heart of relationship with God and of knowing and doing His will. The habitation of God is in the hearts of men. God delights in you when you come to spend time with Him. You are the apple of His eye and He wants to open up His word and His heart to you and he asks you to do the same with Him.

When we have difficulty spending time with God, there is only one diagnosis that fits the symptoms. We are suffering from heart disease. We have let our hearts grow cold towards the Lord.

To help us understand the inner workings of the body of Christ, the Apostle Paul compares it to the human body. We know if the heart is sick the whole body is sick. If the Body of Christ is not engaged in regular, fervent prayer, whether individually or corporately, that flows out of a deep and abiding love for God, then the whole body of Christ is going to be sick. As we pray and confess our sins, God hears our prayers and His Holy Spirit moves throughout the body of Christ, strengthening it and building it up.

Paul gave us a charge when he said, "you are the Body of Christ, and each one of you are a part of it." Each of us has a responsibility to pray. It is essential to the health of the body of Christ.

If you were standing before God today, could you describe your relationship to Him by saying, "I love you with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul, and all my strength."

If your answer is yes, praise the Lord with thanksgiving for His endless, boundless grace that keeps your heart bound like a fetter to His.

If your answer is no, then confess your sin and ask the Lord to show you the jetsam in your life, those things that are more important to you than Him. Commit yourself today to make loving God the highest priority in your life and to believing His word, which tells us that His love is better than life. Jesus said your eternal life depends on it.

Jean gave this personal testimony at her church, Covenant Presbyterian, as the ministry highlight, just prior to the Fall 2000 bi-annual week of prayer.

Copyright © 2001 Jean and Alan LeStourgeon