“Well, there’s nothing left to do but pray.” Ever heard that, or even said it. I have. In fact, it’s almost axiomatic for good Dutch pragmatists like me: first, you do what you can. Then you ask for help. After all, we mention work first in the old saying, “Work like it’s all up to you and pray like it’s all up to God.”
That’s not a Biblical understanding of prayer, though. In James 5:13 it says, “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.”
James says two things about prayer that are different than the way I practice it.
He says pray first. Happy? Before you go celebrate, give your praises to God. Before you tackle your problems or starting building your defenses pray. Pray and then act. But be aware that this is going to become a cycle: pray, act, feel blessed, pray.
And he says pray always. Pray when you’re joyful, when you’re troubled, when you’re worried. In fact, there isn’t a time if your life, or your day, or your moods, when your first and most effective course of action would be something other than praying.
It adds up to one thing: I need to see prayer as my natural and first response to all of life, not the thing I try when I’ve done everything else.
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