Pray First

Jeffrey Smith  

My senior year of high school I had a teacher assign a term paper for a class. What we didn’t know was she going to give us a pop quiz on our papers in an interview format not  a written test.  Needless to say, I was unprepared.

Have you experienced a similar moment in life? Has life thrown you a curveball out of the blue? Prayer is powerful resource God has given us to be ready for life’s moments.  Prayer prepares our hearts in advance of a situation; it gets us spiritually, emotionally, and mentally conditioned for what is coming ahead. Unfortunately, many people only pray in times of trouble or after there has been a failure. Take time to think about some of the worst decisions you have made.  Would the outcome have been different if you prayed first? 

In the course of time, David inquired of the Lord. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked.The Lord said, “Go up.” 2 Samuel 2:1

In this scripture we find David inquiring of the Lord before making a big decision in his life.  Inquiring means to ask a person a question.   I had friend who called his wife to “inquire” if could play another 18 holes of golf with me. He was being considerate, and asked for her input.  Similarly, as David inquired, he allowed God access to every detail of his life .He submitted himself to the Lord. “Shall I go up to this town,Lord?”  And Lord said, “go up.” Before taking action, he set his heart to find God’s direction.  

I encourage you to remember two words: Pray First.  Prayer should be our first response and not our last resort. We have to make prayer a priority in our life. Instead of acting first and asking God to fix your situation,  pray first and know that God is going to bless your situation. As David submitted himself to the Lord, let’s surrender our lives to God’s wise guidance. Whatever area of your life you submit in prayer will be blessed.