Have you ever thought about the fact that we pray for the symptoms and not the problem? Thinking about this, I realized I often pray for the symptoms: relationships, career, the little things that while they are important, does not get to the heart of the problem. We pray for a sense of identity and neglect to pray for God to help us find that in our relationship with Him. We pray for relationships yet neglect the one we have with our Creator. We ask for a sense of purpose yet ignore the voice inside telling us what that is. What is more, is that the heart of the issues are things we can do something about. If I am lonely, I can go out and work on forming new relationships. If I want to further my career, then I need to work on how to do that. If I want to discover new life and find direction, then I need to be exploring different avenues I could take. While it is important to wait on God and there are times to do only that, there are also times to get up out of the pew and pick up the tools. I’m not saying we shouldn’t pray about these things. The first thing we need to do is pray. But then we need to get up off our knees and do something about it. God gave us the brains we were born with. It is honoring to Him to use them.
365-09 #191