Suppose you are approached by an acquaintance who offers to serve as your mentor. “I want to take you under my wing,” he says, “but you must agree to spend three hours with me every day, including holidays and weekends.” This sounds like a big commitment, and you are also concerned because your prospective mentor has some character flaws. He is foul-mouthed, loves to talk about illicit sex, is prone to bursts of violence, and is constantly trying to sell you – for his own personal enrichment – things you really don’t want and certainly don’t need.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

Ephesians 1:16

Meet your friend and mentor: the television set. A recent study found that Americans average 2.8 hours every day glued to the tube, many of them Christians who say, “I just can’t find the time to pray.”

The key to the apostle Paul’s success was his vigilant prayer life. And the key to America’s future is prayer. Will you allow the unimportant things of life to separate you from interceding faithfully and ceaselessly on behalf of your nation and your neighbors today? “The great tragedy of life,” said the famous minister F.B. Meyer, “is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.”

Recommended Reading: Colossians 4:2-6