As we get ready to begin a brand new series on Sunday’s here at First Christian Church Orangefield on prayer, I would like to share one of my favorite illustrations about prayer.

He sits by himself at a table for two.  The uniformed waiter appears at his side.  “Would you like to go ahead and order, sir?”  The man has, after all, been waiting since seven o’clock—almost half an hour.

“No, thank you,” the man says with a smile.  “I’ll wait for her a while longer.  How about some more coffee?”

“Certainly, sir.”

The man sits, his deep brown eyes gazing straight through the flowered centerpiece.  He fingers his napkin, allowing the sounds of light chatter, tinkling silverware, and mellow music to fill his mind.  Dressed in a sport coat and tie with his dark brown hair neatly combed, he projects a clean-cut and welcoming image.  You get the sense that he wants his companion to feel important, respected, loved.  Yet he’s not so formal as to make one uncomfortable.  Having taken every precaution to make others feel at ease with him, still, he sits alone.  The waiter returns to fill the man’s coffee cup.