Prayer Is Not an Emergency Flare

We all have that friend – you know the one whom always like to call us only when their life seems in shambles. Life is great and they’re living the high life without giving us a buzz to join their fun. But man, the moment a ball drops we hear from them.

We’ve given them the shoulder to cry on, the ear they needed for venting, and any ounce of advice we could muster up. Yet it would seem, the advice is generally not taken, and we have the same conversation repeatedly. Or even just a “hey, I really appreciate you listening to me and being there when I needed it.” This merry go round gets old after, at least for me, a few years. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. We’re all busy and sometimes we forget to show our gratefulness. But then we see the cycle.

We say we won’t tolerate it anymore, yet some of us are just as guilty with someone even greater.

While the Lord loves unconditionally, He knows who calls on Him daily and those whom only ring when there’s a fire drill. Girl, don’t be that “friend” that we won’t allow to take root in our own lives to God.

Thankfully, God’s grace is bigger than we all deserve. We should be calling on Him when we rise in the morning to thank Him for the day ahead of us and our health given to us. We should talk to Him on our ride to work in praise of having the ability to provide for our families. We should talk to Him when raising our children up in His name … and let’s be frank, to grant us the patience and to remind us to give them the same grace we were all given. We should call on Him for filling our lives with people who lift us up, encourage us, and are our sideline cheerleaders. We should thank Him for what He did not allow to happen to us.

We should praise Him when we don’t see the light along our path. We should talk to Him when we hear the devil knocking at our door – fervently here I may add. He’ll cast that sucker out of your life so quick, that guy won’t know hit him. But we can’t just pray and call it the day. We must believe our prayers are being heard and that He is fighting our battles. Pray as if it’s already happened and you’ll be amazed at the transition in your life. Thank Him for the blessings yet to come because you know He is a loving God and will continue to provide in your life.

I heard this great story the other day and feel it should be shared again:

A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help.

Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, "Jump in, I can save you."

The stranded fellow shouted back, "No, it's OK, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me."

So the rowboat went on.

Then a motorboat came by. "The fellow in the motorboat shouted, "Jump in, I can save you."

To this the stranded man said, "No thanks, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith."

So the motorboat went on.

Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, "Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety."

To this the stranded man again replied, "No thanks, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith."

So the helicopter reluctantly flew away.

Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, "I had faith in you but you didn't save me, you let me drown. I don't understand why!"

To this God replied, "I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?"

Don’t wait until the end of your path to ask for your help, start your path with Him each day and you’ll never be lead astray.

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