Lee Iacocca On Prayer
I've just finished reading Lee Iacocca's new book, Where Have All the Leaders Gone? It was a great read, though if you like your truths vague and sugarcoated, you might want to skip Iacocca. "Vague" isn't one of his strong suits.
At the end, he has some advice for people in, and headed for, retirement. His last recommendation is to "Say Your Prayers." He writes: "With the passage of years, when you see that there's a lot more behind you than there is ahead of you, you start praying harder. . . I never spent a lot of time wondering what comes next. There was too much to do in the here and now. Getting older has humbled me some, and I say my prayers a little more fervently these days. . . There's no escaping mortality, and the older you get, the more you are reminded of it. Death is the great equalizer, and we all look pretty much the same lying in the coffin. Life is where you can make things happen" (pp. 253-255).
I'm not sure he intended it, but there surely seems to be a bit of desperation there - kinda like: "Oops, time's running out. Better pray!"
God doesn't intend his children live that way, though I am surely glad Mr. Iacoccca IS praying more. God wants us to pray not just in anticipation of the end of life, but pray through life. As difficult as it is at times, life is surely easier when we are in daily conversation with the one who's running the show. The Bible says Jesus often spent time in prayer (Luke 5:16). In his last words to his disciples, Jesus told them three times to be sure and pray. The assurance was that what they asked for, they would receive (John 14:13; 15:7; 16:24-26).
Years later, Jesus' brother, James, would write: "You do not have, because you do not ask God" (James 4:2).
There are four reasons to pray: First, because God asks us to. Second, because we can. It's a huge privilege. Third, because life goes much better when we do than when we don't. And fourth, we will, as Iacocca points out, one day meet the Lord. It will go much better if we meet Him as a friend rather than as a stranger.
At the end, he has some advice for people in, and headed for, retirement. His last recommendation is to "Say Your Prayers." He writes: "With the passage of years, when you see that there's a lot more behind you than there is ahead of you, you start praying harder. . . I never spent a lot of time wondering what comes next. There was too much to do in the here and now. Getting older has humbled me some, and I say my prayers a little more fervently these days. . . There's no escaping mortality, and the older you get, the more you are reminded of it. Death is the great equalizer, and we all look pretty much the same lying in the coffin. Life is where you can make things happen" (pp. 253-255).
I'm not sure he intended it, but there surely seems to be a bit of desperation there - kinda like: "Oops, time's running out. Better pray!"
God doesn't intend his children live that way, though I am surely glad Mr. Iacoccca IS praying more. God wants us to pray not just in anticipation of the end of life, but pray through life. As difficult as it is at times, life is surely easier when we are in daily conversation with the one who's running the show. The Bible says Jesus often spent time in prayer (Luke 5:16). In his last words to his disciples, Jesus told them three times to be sure and pray. The assurance was that what they asked for, they would receive (John 14:13; 15:7; 16:24-26).
Years later, Jesus' brother, James, would write: "You do not have, because you do not ask God" (James 4:2).
There are four reasons to pray: First, because God asks us to. Second, because we can. It's a huge privilege. Third, because life goes much better when we do than when we don't. And fourth, we will, as Iacocca points out, one day meet the Lord. It will go much better if we meet Him as a friend rather than as a stranger.
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