It has been brought to my attention, that many times when we preach and teach the gospel that we do not follow through when people go through hard times. It is quite simple for some to merely say “I will pray for you” or “I hope that things work out as God wills”. And that is not to say that this may be all that a person can do at the time. I realize and empathize with people whose lives are extremely busy or have many others who require your attention. It can be a concern that our life puts us in from time to time.
So, is there another answer? Or is there a complete answer. Many times, when I find myself saying “I will pray for you” or “can I pray for you right now” – it might be the absolute best thing I can do. We talk all the time about the power of prayer and how we believe and trust in it. But we know how powerful and how important prayer is in James.
James 5:13-16 NIV Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
I am reminded of a song (Games People Play) by the Alan Parsons Project.
Where do we go from here
Now that all of the children are growin' up.
And how do we spend our lives
If there's no one to lend us a hand?
It makes me think that yeah, we made it this far, but what about tomorrow? And in my crazy connections in my brain, it reminds me of this verse that Jesus so sweetly tells us while He is preaching the sermon on the mount,
Matthew 6:34 NIV Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
It’s like we are saying, yeah – but what have you done for me lately? I am not sure when we decided that we were the most important, but it sure is prevalent. God tells us that He is in charge, that His plan is in place, and that He is in control. Do we need more?
Now I realize there are people in this world that are very troubled. They are in need of serious intervention in order to make a change occur. But that is not the norm. Most of us need to realize that God is in control, that these questions like Where do we go from here? Or how do I handle this situation are ready to be handled and settled by our Heavenly Father.
And in order for Him to do that, we need to be in a relationship with Him! So, I wonder, is it our questioning about what we need, what we want, or how come things seem to be not going well for us. Or aren’t we just acting like children and stomping our feet?
Speaking for myself, I need to give things to God more, pray more, seek His face more, read scriptures more, and question less. He will guide and direct.
Proverbs 16:9 NIV In their heart’s humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
Peace,
PTV