Yes, It Has Come To That!

The pastor of a small Baptist church received a call from the church bookkeeper saying the church was in desperate need of money to pay its bills that month. The pastor decided to hold an emergency deacons meeting that night at the church so he began calling each deacon to explain the situation and invite each of them to join him in seeking the Lord’s help. On the last call the pastor explained to the deacon the dire position the church was in and that there was going to be a prayer meeting that night at 6:00 pm at the church to which the deacon responded, “has it come to that?”

I laugh at that story only halfheartedly because I too have been guilty of prayerlessness and instead of looking to God as my number one priority, like the deacon in this story above, prayer has been at times my last resort as if I was supposed to try to fix everything on my own and then if I can’t figure it out then I to turn to God. The Bible makes clear we are to pray first and last and at all times in between during our day. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 the shortest verse in all the Bible. Some think the shortest verse is “Jesus wept” but in the Greek language that is actually three words and the “pray without ceasing” in the Greek language is only two. Makes sense when you think about it. It’s as if God was helping us remember the most important activity of our lives is prayer by making it easy to remember the call to pray by making it the shortest verse in the Bible.

One pastor I enjoy listening explained prayer this way, “If we knew how truly effective prayer was we’d never cease to pray again.” Dr. Billy Graham once said, “Heaven is a warehouse full of answered prayers that have yet to be prayed.” I love the imagery of that thought. The promises of God are “yes and amen” to them that believe the Bible reminds us. Don’t make prayer your last resort, make it the priority of your life each day. Keep Philippians 4:6  in mind, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Why you might ask? Because with God all things are possible and every good and perfect gift comes from above! Thats why Jesus said, ““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

I LOVE YOU!