About fifteen years ago Cheryl and I were getting ready to leave town for a vacation. It was late July and we were going to meet some friends for a week at South Padre Island. We had just finished packing the car when I got a phone call that one of the members of my congregation had been hospitalized in Dallas. We go right through Dallas on our way to South Padre, so I decided to make a hospital visit before we left town.

When we arrived, I parked in the garage, went to see the member, had a devotion and prayed with him, and then went downstairs. In those days, if you went to the information booth they would validate parking tickets for clergy so that you didn’t have to pay. I waited in line, got to the front and handed the lady my ticket and asked her to validate it for clergy parking.

I mentioned I was going on vacation to the beach, right? I was wearing shorts, sandals and a brightly colored Hawaiian shirt. The large lady standing behind the booth had her hair pulled back in a bun, was wearing reading glasses on the end of her nose, and had a stern look on her face. She slowly scanned me up and down, took note of what I was wearing, and with her voice dripping with skepticism she asked me a two word question: “You Clergy?”

I realized the situation, how things looked, but I simply replied, “Yes, ma’am, I am.” She leaned forward and looked me straight in the eye and said, “I’m going to be talking to Jesus tonight and I’m going to ask Him about you.”

I immediately leaned in toward her and smiled and said, “I’ll be talking to Him, too.”

With that, she smiled and laughed and validated my ticket so I could be on my way.

I guess I could share some thoughts about not judging a book by its cover, but remembering that story reminded me of the importance of our prayer life. I find myself talking to Jesus throughout the day. I thank Him for being my Lord. I ask Him for help on my projects, especially when I am having trouble. I thank Him when He helps me get things done. I pray for friends and family members. I pray for those who have not yet come to believe in Him. And I thank Him for dying to pay for my sin and rising to assure me of life everlasting.

Prayer is simply talking to God. I’ll be doing that again today, including this evening. I wonder if that lady from the information booth is still doing that. How about you?

1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray continually;