After the late climber, Charlie Fowler, free-soloed a 5.10 route on the Diamond of Long's Peak, it had a name change to "The Casual Route" because he pronounced his effort on it as casual. Not sure I would ever describe a free-solo of a 1,000 foot, granite face as ..."not difficult, child's play, a cinch, easily done, effortless, inconsiderable, no problem, no sweat, no trouble, nothing to it, a picnic, a piece of cake, straightforward, and undemanding."
When it comes to the practice of prayer for the Christian, would it be described as "casual"? Do I really need to answer that?
Prayer is hard work. It takes time and intentionality. Have you ever met someone who says they pray enough?
However, I will put forward to you that a "Casual Route" can be lived. How? When we consider that God's Word tells us to pray and that He promises to answer our prayers, we will see the path of prayer as a route we all can do.
- "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7)
- "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven." (Matthew 18:19)
- "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." (Matthew 21:22)
- "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mark 11:24)
- "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13)
- "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:13-14) -"In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." (John 16:23)
- "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)
- "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him." (1 John 5:14-15)
When we are prayed up, we can proclaim over our lives and our desires in service for Jesus that it's "causal" because God has promised to be at work for us. So be encouraged to pray. If you have never had a regular prayer, start one. If you have had one but it has faded (that's where I am right now and preaching to myself here), renew your commitment to a prayer time.
In all cases, please get involved in prayer with-in Solid Rock in at least these three ways:
1. Pray over the events list. We post this not only for you to consider being involved but also that you may lift them up before God in prayer! This coming weekend is a great example of that time for prayer! The three events to prayer over:
April 20-22; The Climb Quartz Mt. Weekend Outreach, (near Altus, OK)
April 21: 2nd Annual Dallas Kloke Memorial Work and Climb Day at Mt. Erie, WA
April 21-22: ROCKFEST 2012 at Rock State Park in Jarrettsville, MD
2. Sign-up for the 10th Annual International Day of Prayer for Climbers on Thurs., May 3rd. You are invited to pray for the climbing community and SRCFC's effectiveness in helping Christian climbers do outreach work. Generally, we have 80 to 100 Solid Rockers praying for hundreds of climbers by name as well as other requests. Our goal is to cover the entire 24-hour day from 12:00 am to 11:59 pm (Pacific Time or GMT minus 8:00) in 30 minute sessions. This happens the same day as the American National Day of Prayer. Learn more and sign-up.
3. Pray for Ryan Wahl's Family and Friends. He was a member of SRCFC who died on April 7th in a climbing accident. Learn more below.
