For the Love of God, Just Pray!

I have been pretty quiet on the blog here for a while. Not really intentional on my part, but pretty intentional on God’s part. This weekend, I was coming back from a leadership summit in Florida and I began reading a book by Bill Hybels called “Too Busy Not to Pray.” I’m only through chapter one and a bit of chapter two, but this thought just came over me as I read:

For the Love of God, Just Pray!

How many times have I been in conversation with someone and they say something that clearly could use prayer and we just listen to it and move on in conversation? Or now many times do we go through our days come up against something that seems tough or difficult and just try to “get it done” by ourselves? Or when we have a thought and like a blink of an eye, try to think of the specifics of that thought and can’t recollect what it was but have this burning sensation that we know we were awakened for a serious reason?

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” – Ephesians 6:18

I love that this passage comes immediately after Paul describes the Armor of God. He is so descriptive in how he describes the things that God has already given to us to fight the Good fight and follows it up by instructing us to always pray. For everything. Personally, I went through a season where the last thing I would do is pray. It was like a last resort. “Well, we have exhausted ever logical thought, so, I guess we better pray,” I would say to myself.

How unrealistic.

So, the God of the Universe says to you and to me that “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles (Psalm 34:17)” and that He is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” and we go to Him as a 6th man on the basketball team?

How many times have we inadvertently picked God, last, in this “game of kickball” better known as life?

I have no where even come close to mastering this one. But, I know this: The business of my life requires me to be in the prayer business and the demand of my life calls for a high supply of prayer. I’m pretty sure that this applies to any person. Any person that believes that they have purpose from God each day. His business needs to be coated in prayer. So for the Love of God, Just Pray!