I pray for others, but not like this:

“Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy” (Philippians 1:4).

I wonder what that kind of praying is like.

I know my family would benefit if I prayed like that. So would my church.

Perhaps I don’t pray for these people that way because I don’t love them this way:

“I have you in my heart” (Philippians 1:7).

Then again, maybe I don’t pray as I ought because my focus is too earthly.

Where does God fit in my life?

If my God-consciousness is low, why should my praying be high?

Well, I grab ahold of another verse in Philippians 1 . . . .

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (6).

“With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men” (Ephesians 6:7).

That was originally directed to servants. Slaves, back then.

This morning it was directed to me, even though I’m self-employed. So I have no boss, foreman, or manager.

Nevertheless, I’m still a servant to my customers.

If you are one of my customers, know that I have tried to serve you faithfully. We package carefully. We double-check orders. I try to be easy to deal with on returns, refunds, order changes, cancelations, and so forth.

But . . . .

I have scores (hundreds, actually) of customer emails that have gone unanswered. I have tried to stay on top. I have tried to catch up. But not hard enough and not faithfully enough.

After reading Ephesians 6:5-8 this morning, I asked myself, “If the Lord were my customer and had sent me an email inquiry, how prompt and faithful would I have been in getting a reply back to him?”

I like to think that I would have moved right away to get a helpful reply on its way back to Him.

But if my service to others is actually service to Him . . . .

Oh my!

If you are one of those still waiting for an answer from me, I’m sorry about the delay. I will try harder to get back to you.