Prayer Guidance
Prayer can become a way of avoiding work. Work can become a way of avoiding prayer. But to work faithfully before God, we must let prayer guide our work.
Jesus spent an entire night in prayer before selecting men to be His apostles (Luke 6:12 bibrefluke6 bibrefluke6v12). Is there any significance in that?
The answer to that is as obvious as the apostle James teaching that: you have not because you ask not (James 4:2 bibrefjames4 bibrefjames4v2).
It is easy not to pray. It is easy not to live by faith and instead to live by the flesh. The fundamentals of sanctification are almost too basic: meditating on the Word and praying. Even pastors who are to be devoted to the ministry of the Word and prayer know that prayer is easy to neglect. It is wrong.
We make plans, but we do not say, “if the Lord wills” (James 4:15 bibrefjames4 bibrefjames4v15). We are weak because we are not dependent. We are unwise because we do not ask for wisdom from God. We believe, but we still have unbelief, and some of that is because we have not asked for help.
If you would cast your bread on the waters and find it after many days, you must wait by faith in prayer. If you would sow seeds and wait for the harvest, you must work and pray.
What causes fights and quarrels is that we do not pray (James 4:1-2 bibrefjames4 bibrefjames4v1 bibrefjames4v2). Whoever boasts that he will do whatever he wants whenever he wants is arrogant; he knows what is right but sins when he fails to do it (James 4:15-16 bibrefjames4 bibrefjames4v15 bibrefjames4v16). Let us not seek answers and strength according to what we can see first, but rather seek the Lord first in prayer that He might provide for us in ways we can see.