Putting Feet to Our Prayers

“”Pray without ceasing.”  I Thessalonians 5:17

A young Jewish man who formerly lived in my neighborhood asked me one time, “Why do Christians always say, ‘Well, just pray about it,’ when there is a need or a situation of which there is no seemingly no solution forthcoming?”  This is the way it is for many situations in which we find ourselves.  His idea was that prayer alone was not enough; there must be something that we can do in all situations to resolve the problem.  My response was that we always need to pray, but sometimes there are actions that we must take.  If I prayed for God to help me lose weight, I couldn’t continue to eat junk food, ice cream, and carbonated, sugar-sweetened sodas and expect God to just make the weight disappear.  I would have to limit my calories and exercise.  I would have to learn how to eat better and stick with it.  God might help me by constantly reminding me in my spirit of my weight loss goal when I am about to reach for a cookie, or He might send a friend alongside to work out with me and encourage me.

Years ago, I heard a good example of putting feet to one’s prayers.  The story went like this:  there were two little girls who were walking to school, but they were going to be tardy.  I don’t know how it is now about tardiness in school, but when I was young, it was a big deal.  If you were late, you had to go to the principal’s office before being allowed in class.  As the little girls continued on their way, one of them said, “Let’s stop and pray that we won’t be late.”  The other girl said, “No, let’s pray while we run as fast as we can!”  There are times when, like the first little girl, that all we can do is stop our efforts and let the Lord take control of the situation.  On the other hand,  sometimes we need to “run” with our prayers, that is, do what we can to alleviate, resolve, or make concerted efforts to mitigate the problem, but the first thing to do either way is to pray.  I heard a preacher say one time that it was not the work that we do in solving the problem, but rather, that prayer was the work.  Praying is difficult sometimes, but the Holy Spirit knows how to turn our prayers into meaningful words that express our desires according to God’s will.

The Apostle Paul urged believers to “pray without ceasing”, but it would be impossible to be praying 24 hours a day.  We have to sleep, go to work and concentrate on our jobs so that we don’t make a mistake, and carry on conversations with our family and business associates.  Of course, during these times we can breathe up brief prayers as we go throughout our day.  When we awake during the night, we can pray.  Sometimes I think God wakes us up in order to pray.  I think that it is a good idea when a particular person comes to one’s mind, to pray for that person for one never knows but what that person is desperately in need of prayer at that time.  The Lord should always be consulted before we make major decisions, even minor ones.  He knows the future so it is a good idea to consult Him before proceeding.

Folks usually explain that a continuous prayer is not a constant, verbal communication with the Lord, but as being in an “attitude of prayer”.  I have heard that since I was a child, but what does it mean?  I think it just simply means knowing that the Lord is with us at all times and ready to hear us at any moment when we desire to communicate with Him.  It’s knowing that we can go to Him with anything that’s troubling us at any time of day or night.  We don’t have to make an appointment or get on a waiting list.  We won’t be put on hold or have to request a “call back”.  We won’t be referred to a website, except we might be directed to scripture, and we won’t have to listen to that awful, repetitive music and hear the lady’s voice telling us that they are grateful for our call, and it will be answered in the order in which it was received.  Speaking with the Lord is a tremendous privilege.  God is always responsive to our needs.  He may not answer immediately, but we can be sure that He has heard us and will take care of the situation or desire according to the way that it works out His will for our lives.  We need to be aware that this attitude of prayer also means that we are to keep our ears open to hear from Him.  He speaks through our spirit, through others, and through the pages of scripture.  Remember–prayer is always the first line of defense.