Pray

Yesterday, after walking for hours at the Grand Canyon National Park, my family boarded a shuttle bus taking us back to the Welcome center. While on the bus, I saw the following on display:

"The only possible guarantee of the future is responsible behavior in the present." ~ Wendell Berry

I did what I often do when facing new concepts; I took Berry's thought to the truth of Scripture. And the more I thought of it and prayed about it, the more clearly I saw prayer as the most responsible behavior in the present.

"Pray continually." -- 1 Thess 5:17

But why pray if indeed God is sovereign? It would seem the one person who, in my limited brain, could have skipped prayer altogether in His "present" saw His need for prayer . . . and prayed often.

Throughout the three years of His earthly ministry, Jesus prayed. He fasted and prayed for 40 days and nights at the very beginning of it; He prayed heart-wrenching one-liners till the bitter end on the Cross.

The Son of God prayed.
The Son of Man prayed.

"In the busiest, most pressured seasons of His life, He prayed more, not less," says Bible teacher Nancy Leigh DeMoss. He prayed for Himself, His disciples, and for all believers.

Immanuel prayed.
The Man of Sorrows prayed.

He prayed and the hungry were fed.
He prayed and the sick were healed.
He prayed and the mourning were comforted.
He prayed and the dead were resurrected.

Do you and I recognize the all-sufficiency of the Son of God? Let us pray right now.

Do you and I acknowledge the vulnerability yet enduring power of the Son of Man? Let us pray at this very moment.

Do you and I see the immensity of our need and realize the Father's amazing qualifications to supply so much more than we could ever dream or imagine? Let us pray today.

When esteemed, let us pray first.
When regally treated, let us pray first.
When amply supplied, let us pray first.
When everything is going well, let us pray first.

When insulted, let us pray first.
When mistreated, let us pray first.
When held at gun point, let us pray first.
When discriminated against, let us pray first.

Prayer comes first and foremost. Praying first is seeking first God's Kingdom and righteousness -- everything else will be added as the Father sees fit for the future of His Kingdom and our place within it.

"O what peace we often forfeit
O what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer."