Proverbs 16:3
On Monday, March 28, 2022 I went to the courthouse for jury duty selection. I had the pleasure of sitting next to a gentleman who was reading a book called "The Power of a Praying Husband". I told him that I admire him for reading that book. And it's like by me saying that, I gave him the gateway to open his heart and just cry. He told me about how hard he's been praying for his marriage. He and his wife have been married for 23 years and they have two kids. According to him, he and his wife aren't doing well at all. He doesn't want to throw the marriage away but his wife has stopped trying to make it work. I didn't speak to him as he was pouring out. I just listened. The tears started to fall from his eyes and my heart melted.
As this stranger told me the facts of his life, I started to look around the courtroom at the other people. I wondered who else was hurting the way that this gentleman was. I didn't even know his name. At the time, it only mattered that he saw something in me to want to share with me. He said that he prays every single day, the same prayer. It was at that time that I told him to stop saying the same prayer. I told him these words...GOD HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME. Sometimes we do that. We have a specific thing that we need from God and it seems like God isn't working fast enough to provide that thing or solve that problem. As a result, we often pray the same prayer over and over. But you know what I've learned. I've learned that once you pray, leave it there. Don't go pick it back up. Let God pick it up. Let him deal with it. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to “Pray continually,” but Matthew 6:7 says to "do not keep on babbling" and "use not vain repetitions." The “vain repetition” Jesus was referring to was faithless prayers. When we pray the same prayer repetitively, we are basically telling God that we don't have faith that he will answer us "eventually"...not "immediately" but eventually.
I use the word "eventually" on purpose because God will come but sometimes he works with us and not always for us. Whewwww. We have to do the work. I literally use James 2:18 all the time. It's my favorite scripture. I believe in it with all of my heart. Faith requires actions. We pray in faith but we must understand that faith requires actions. "Show me your faith apart from your works and I will show you my faith by my works." So in reference to the man that was telling me about the struggles of his marriage, I had to be honest with him. I told him that the only way that the marriage will heal is if he and his wife commit to doing the work. If she's against it, it won't work. If he's not fully committed, it won't work. The kids are not apart of the division or the reconciliation. I told him that God would work with you once you and your wife commit to doing the work as well.
This brings me to my next point. We have to start owning our stuff. We have to stop lying to ourselves about the hard things that are going on in our lives and hoping that repetitive prayer will fix it. God can do anything but God is not a puppet. He's not something that we can use like a Yo-Yo. I remember hearing "Pray Until Something Happens" (PUSH). We should pray until something happens but we should also "work" until something happens. We have to activate our prayer by our works. I can't just pray for a job and then don't complete an application. I can't just pray for healing in my marriage and then don't exhaust all options in working to start the healing process. I can't just pray that God will help me lose 50lbs without ever changing my eating habits. It honestly does not work like that. Action...action...action!!! Praying in faith requires action.
I've been praying for something very specific as well. And my prayer has not been answered. God knows that I've been too afraid to activate my prayer. On Sunday, I made the decision that it's time to activate my prayer. I'm stepping out of the boat very soon. And I'm praying a different prayer. I pray that those of you reading my blog would do the same. Step outside the boat. Go after your dreams. Apply for the job that you want. Start the business that you've been wanting to start. Go get that degree. Fix your relationships. Fix your marriage. Lose that weight. We can do hard things.
The bottom line as it relates to the man that told me about his marriage and to all of us in general is that we have to focus on working hard, and know that God will bless our hard work! Proverbs 16:3 says "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established." We have to completely depend on God in our works and then we can expect God to bring our work to fruition in his way and in his time because we would have depended on Him in our efforts.
So here's the challenge: I challenge each of you that are reading this blog to evaluate your prayer before you actually pray. Are you prepared to do the work to activate that prayer? Are you ready to fully depend on God in your efforts? It's time to get up and move. Stop waiting on God to perform a miracle when we haven't even proven that we deserve it.
I'm believing that God will fix that man's marriage as long as he and his wife does the work. They'll be better than they've ever been before. I'm believing God to do a special thing in our lives as well but we have to do the work.
Love always,
Kym ❤️