Stop Praying!

Praying is one of the best things we can do as Christians, but it’s far from the only thing.

Do it! Pray! The Bible says you should pray a lot! How much? Look at 1 Thessalonians:

pray without ceasing,
1 Thessalonians 5:17

Dang! That’s a lot of praying. Jesus prayed quite a bit and talked about praying quite a bit as well. If Dory from Finding Nemo/Dory was a Christian, her song might be something more like “Just keep praying” (I really hope no one makes a corny Christian parody movie with that song in it… and I hope I didn’t just give someone an idea). That’s what the apostles seemed to do after Jesus’ ascension.

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
Acts 1:14

But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.
Acts 6:4

Plus, people like Paul were consistently telling us to pray:

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Romans 12:12

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4:6

So, yes, you should pray. Pray your heart out. I doubt many of us are praying nearly as much as we ought to. And that is a great weakness for us. We ought to pray a lot, but there is something else that all the people I mentioned did: they took action! Jesus and his apostles went around the known world and preached the Gospel and performed miracles, and many of them gave their lives for that service. But it wasn’t just the miracles and preaching. They actually went out and showed love for people. They gave of themselves in order to care for others.

Their prayer, communing with God, helped develop their hearts to that point and gave them the guidance that they needed. They fixed their eyes on God and God showed them the path they should take. If you’re not taking that action, then maybe you need a bit more faith.

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
James 2:15-16

Don't just pray. Pray, and then GO DO the will of God, which is to love your neighbor. Click To Tweet

Pray, and then go do the will of God, which is to love your neighbor. God has blessed many of us with more stuff than we need. Let’s use that to bless others instead of letting it collect dust or take all of our time.

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