“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” — Colossians 4:2
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Professional bowlers will tell you, there really isn’t that much of a difference between a strike and a gutter ball. If the angle of the release point is just a couple of degrees off, a ball that otherwise would have hit all the pins instead sails into the gutter. As someone who has tossed plenty of gutter balls in his life, I see a parallel to the spiritual discipline of private prayer to which all followers of Christ are called.
Almost without fail, the “major sins” that lead to ruined lives — like adultery, theft and even apostasy — didn’t begin that way. They began with a misstep most would consider relatively minor: the neglect of private prayer. No one (except God) would know, and a person’s life isn’t obviously affected negatively. Yet like a bowling ball that starts with a small miscalculation and ends in the gutter, if not corrected, neglecting prayer one day more easily leads to its neglect the next. A person can walk with God in public, but in private, his or her heart is far from Him. Eventually, he or she is leading a life of prayerlessness and prone to the harmful effects of indwelling sin. And a human heart untethered to God and His Word is ripe for acts that lead to hurting people and dishonoring God.
Now, I’m not saying that skipping your morning devotions one day will turn you into an adulterous thief. I am saying, however, that you should “give careful thought to your ways” (Haggai 1:7) so that you will “walk by the Spirit” and not “gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). If left unchecked, a skipped devotion could be the first of many steps toward a life of sin.
In the words of the great 19th-century British preacher Charles Spurgeon, “Nine times out of 10, declension from God begins in the neglect of private prayer.” Remember, “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9), and you need Christ to bring you back to Himself.
The good news for you and for me is that God has promised to do that very thing. He “will never leave your nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8), and He will “uphold you with [His] righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
Proof of this glorious truth is in the Person of Jesus Christ, who came to earth to live a life in perfect obedience to the Father and to die a death under the judgment that our sin deserved. The sacrifice of Himself was acceptable, for Christ rose again, conquering sin and death. God the Holy Spirit is with us and within us, and He will guide you and help you.
As you roll down the bowling lane of life and are tempted to veer to the side — into the gutter of sin — it’s God alone who brings you back to the way you should go. If you are in Christ, your end is sure: eternal life in His perfect presence. Now that’s a perfect strike.
— Kevin Mercer
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