Never Stop Praying — Vol.4 Ch.10

Never Stop Praying
 
If you ask a fellow Christ follower to list the most important things about their faith, one of those would be prayer. Some would even say, “Pray without ceasing.”


All of us agree that prayer is one of the most important actions we can take in a personal relationship with God. But life gets in the way so often.


In the midst of the sixth month of a worldwide pandemic all of us agree that prayer is vital for our well-being. However, in the beginning of these days we were caught without schedules, thrown into our homes, quarantined and confused. Lots of praying was going on. I wonder what a prayer meter might have looked like in those first days? Shock waves of world tragedy throughout history have brought us to our knees quickly.


God handled all the prayers, heard each and everyone and might even have set another pot of tea on the stove enjoying the intimacy we sought with Him through the tragedy. Our Almighty God calming our souls and reminding us that He loves us and is for us and not against us. He will never leave nor forsake us. He is our loving creator, redeemer and friend.


Yet as the days have gone on, we have thrown ourselves into all sorts of controlling feelings and actions. We really do like to be god in our own worlds, don’t we? Some have deduced this is all a hoax. Some have determined to expose themselves since it is just the flu. Some people have gotten angry and some have gotten loud. I don’t envy anyone in authority right now. We are a rowdy bunch when things don’t go our way.


I’m reminded of the Israelites in the desert as they left Egypt. It was a short trek to the land of milk and honey. Only a six-week travel by foot at 6 hours of walking a day, and that includes with animals and children.


What did the Israelites do instead? They grumbled. They took matters into their own hands. They were obstinate, disobedient, and forgetful. They stopped praising God. They stopped praying. They were doomed to wander in the desert for forty years. But even then God sustained them. “They lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.” Nehemiah 9:21


It has been said that the Israelites needed this time to change a culture of slavery into a culture of healthy God centered Israelites. This is a possibility. When we look at the Nation leaving Egypt we see broken slaves. We see people unable to tend to life themselves. Their faith has been weakened by the Egyptian culture, and their spirits have been broken. We see whining wimps missing the days of slavery. Hungry and thirsty they were irritable. And God answers. He rains down manna from the heavens. Yet only enough for the day, anyone trying to hoard, or control more than a day’s worth of manna found it moldy and worm infested the second day. Exodus 16


In Exodus 17 God instructed Moses to call forth water  and water poured freely for the Israelites to drink. Unfortunately, Moses and Aaron didn't fully trust God and in a moment of frustration Moses struck the rock. God still gave water to the Israelites, but disciplined both Moses and Aaron for not completely trusting Him and giving Satan an opportunity to place doubt of whether it was God or the staff that had power. Thus, they never entered the Promised Land.


After God fulfilled the needs of the people, they still argued and disrupted any peace. So God sends Moses up the Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments written down by God himself. These laws of practice were set to protect and extend the Nation and its people.  After the Ten Commandments were given, the Israelites still lost faith and began to worship other gods. Exodus 32


There were many more years of wandering, and even when the Israelites were brought directly into the Land of Milk and Honey, they didn’t trust that God was big enough to hand it to them. They cowered under the appearance of a strong resistance. Instead of praying and moving forward they stopped worshiping. Wandering longer and longer and longer.


Could we possibly learn something from these people that God has set before us? Could we wake up and remember to praise, remember to pray, remember to be thankful. Would we hold tighter to our faith and our strength and even our peace if we stopped and prayed for those around us, for our own families, for our churches, for our ministers and leaders of our country? God alone has placed all leaders in their positions; whether we agree or disagree with their policies or personalities can we pray for them?


My question for us today? Will we pray? Will we remember? Will we trust? Will we obey? Will we be like, Joshua, taking courage before entering the Land of Milk and Honey.


Never stop praying. Never stop praising. Keep our eyes toward heaven. Be thankful for the manna, the water, and the days of provision here in this wilderness.


After all, God really does know what He is doing.


Because He IS the I AM, i am,
 
Robyn Rochelle Cox
©RR&BC, LLC 2020
email: rrandbc@readthebiblewithrobyncox.com