Too often we turn to God as a last resort. Too often have we heard “All we can do now is pray,”. We’ve tried everything else. We have run out of options. So we pray. The fact is, we often turn to prayer in desperation because we failed to pray as a first resort. When we neglect prayer, we are more likely to paint ourselves into corners, so to speak, and end up at our wits’ end.
One of the key aspects of prayer if deep faith and trust. Prayer will be our first resource only when we trust God and have deep faith that He always wants the best for us. Through every peak and valley of our lives, faith and perseverance will continue to be the two biggest keys that permit us to move forward.
Here is a list I came across of what prayer is not:
- Prayer is not magic. We cannot summon God as though He were a genie, waiting to grant our wishes without regard for our circumstances or the consequences.
- Prayer does not make demands. While we can make requests of God in prayer, we dare not make demands. God is the Creator of the universe and does not take orders from us.
- Prayer is for our benefit, not God’s. We need a relationship with God because we were made to function best when we are in a proper relationship with our Creator.
- Prayer is not a guarantee against suffering. Accepting the outcome trusting that He makes everything beautiful in His time
- Prayer is not an opportunity for us to show off.
Prayer is a relationship, wherein we humbly communicate, worship, and sincerely seek God’s face, knowing that He hears us, loves us and will respond, though not always in a manner we may expect or desire. Prayer can encompass confession, praise, adoration, supplication, intercession and more. Our prayers must come often and regularly, not from legalistic duty, but from a humble heart, realizing our dependence on God in every aspect of our lives.
The thought to pray first doesn’t come naturally. It comes from cultivating a lifestyle of talking to God, not just in our devotional times, but throughout the day. Whether we are breathing silent prayers, praying out loud or uttering calls to God for help, talking to the Lord about everything should become as natural as breathing.
Prayer can make a profound difference in our world. But it is up to us to offer our prayers humbly and regularly, thus making it our first resource rather than a last resort!
If we first learn to commit to God in prayer everything that happens to us, we will save ourselves much wasted time and heartache. The hymn “What a Friend we have in Jesus” says it so well: “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”
Kenrick Vaz 