Young Lawyer

I heard of a young lawyer who had just opened up a brand-new office.  He was seated behind his shiny new desk, eagerly awaiting his first client.  Soon he heard footsteps in the hall and then a hand of the doorknob.  Wanting to look important he pretended to be busy, so he picked up the telephone and carried on a fake conversation.

“Yes, yes, I’ll have my secretary tend to that.  I have a very heavy schedule.  Call me back in a few days.”  He motioned toward the door as if to say, “Come in, come in.”  The stranger entered the office, listening to one end of the high-level conversation.

Finally the receiver was put back on the hook, and the lawyer turned to what he hoped was a prospective client.  “Now, what may I do for you?”

The man answered calmly, “I’m from the phone company, and I came to connect your telephone.”

So much of our praying is like that.  We are praying to be seen by men, but no one is on the other end of the line.  Wouldn’t you like to quit playing games and get down to serious business in this matter of prayer?

Appearances; Honesty; Prayer; Pride

Adrian Rogers, The Power of His Presence (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1995), 131.