Askov American., 1943-10-07
Church and Home
BY REV. M. MIKKELSEN

The essential thing in mans life
might be his prayer-life: it is possible
that it can be something else. It al
ways is the thing in life which re-
duces the distance between you and
God to the least fraction possible
1t might be work, faith or prayer,
or all of these combined. It is well
to know that one is working in the
presence of God, that faith in Him
never allows one to withdraw him.
self from His presence, and that in
prayer it is possible always to have
the assurance of His nearness.
There is only one thing that is
essential in mans life. Until we be-
gin to see the importance of this,
there might be several things which
we consider essential. May I once
more emphasize the value of prayer.
Only he who has experienced what
prayer might do to him is in posi-
tion properly to understand his own
need, not of the many things, but
of the one essential thing in life.
Is it not true that the confusion to-
where is the result of selfishness and
greed? Man wanted more than his
own. He wasn't satisfied with his lot
He wanted many things. Not just one
thing. Not even Christians have kept
out of the race for worldly posses
sions. Some of them managed to out
run other competitors and demon
strate to the world that Christianity
is not what it was, backward, shy,
humble. Today processing Christians
do not hesitate to compete for the
possession of worldly honors and
wealth. There is plenty room for
hypocrites in our modern sanctuaries.
Church groups today are fairly toll
Grant. Money, even in the life and
the work of the church, has assumed,
it seems, an importance which was
unknown in the early days of the
church.
Our fine church buildings, equip
ment for the Sunday school, ETC., Ger
tainly add to the beauty of the
services and make the work so much
more convenient and pleasant, but
to think that the work would be dis
continued if we didn't have these,
is placing far too great value on
outward equipment. These are not
the essential things in mans religious
life. It is essential that he expert
ences in his daily life, not on Sundays
only, the nearness of God and the
feeling of security which is impaired
to him in the presence of God.
Being close to God means that one
is further removed from the worries
and anxieties Of life, and there is
no fear to delay our progress, al
though we may encounter stiff re-
sistance as we travel along on life's
highway.
You understand that it is not the
type of work we do, that makes us
still apprentices in the Kingdom, and
it is not the presence in our hearts
of deep desire to serve, but the
presence with us of this ugly thing
called worry.
It is not because one sits in church
listening to the word of life that
he might receive praise for havin 7
chosen the best place, but it is be-
cause of the complete absence OF
worry. It's this absence in mans
life of worries that makes devoted
ness so attractive; it's the presence OF
worry which makes our services ra-
ther unattractive.
Absolved from his worries one may
live, from day to day, much nearer
the source of life, and draw from i,
sustenance to transcend such evils as
misfortune, disaster, pain, sorrow
ETC., which the world may have in
store for us.