“O what
peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not
carry, everything to God in prayer.”
-Joseph M. Scriven
I am
a firm believer in taking everything to the Lord in prayer. As I’m continuing
to grow in my walk with Christ, I’ve truly come to value and appreciate the privilege
of prayer. However, although I’m
grateful for growth, I can’t help but look back on all of the time I wasted
being frustrated all because I didn’t take everything
to God in prayer.
Recently
at my job I’ve been given a new project that has been demanding all of my time.
It’s a project that honestly isn’t designed for just one person to handle, yet
somehow it was given to just me. Throughout all of the stress and late hours I’ve
been pulling at work, my supervisor has continued to tell me the same thing
every day, “Leah, if you need help please let me know, otherwise I’ll just
assume you can handle it.” Instead of
fully evaluating the situation, I took her words as a challenge and my focus quickly
changed to proving that I could handle it by myself. So for the past week and a half, I’ve been so
busy trying to “handle” everything that the quality of my work was beginning to
suffer in the process.
"Lack of prayer is a declaration of self-dependency."
Although the work
had been getting done, it was not done effectively. Finally, in a voice of defeat I came back to
my supervisor to admit, “I can’t handle this project on my own.” After expecting to be removed from the
project, I was surprised when my supervisor responded, “I’ve been waiting for
you to say that, I have already appointed someone to assist you in the process.” Man,
did God speak to me on this one. How
many times have we been faced with a difficult situation but instead of first taking
it to God in prayer, we rely on our own understanding? Joseph Solomon said it
best, “Lack of prayer is a declaration of self-dependency.”
"Prayer isn't informing God of your problem, it's acknowledging God as the solution to your problem."
My
supervisor knew all along that I could not handle the project on my own, yet
she waited for me to come and admit that to her. Whew! How could we ever think
for a second that an all powerful, all knowing God doesn’t already know what we’re
going through? Prayer isn’t informing
God of your problem, it’s acknowledging God as the solution to your problem. It’s you coming to Him admitting that He is
the source of your help.
The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:6, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." However the scripture doesn't end there, "..and the peace of God, which surpasses all of our understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Prayer is not only an acknowledgment to God,
but it’s literally an exchange with God. When we bring everything that concerns
us to God in prayer, He exchanges our worries for peace, our confusion for
understanding and our sorrows for joy.
In Matthew 11:30 Jesus said, ”For my yoke is easy to bear and the burden I give you is light.” He literally provides assistance in taking
the load off our heavy hearts, but we first must take all of the weights that
our burdening our hearts to the Lord in prayer. Don’t be like me. Don’t wait until you’ve stressed yourself out
and have come to the end of your rope before you seek God. Prayer should never be a last resort. No matter how big or how small, take everything to the Lord in prayer.
“What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to
bear.
What a
privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.
O what
peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All
because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”
- Joseph M.
Scriven
Bible Study
For additional information on this topic, check out the following scriptures:
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