Priority of Prayer
Priority is the thing of most importance. There is always talk of getting your priorities in order. But I was listening to a podcast the other day and the speaker mentioned how ridiculous it is that we make the word priority plural. That implies there are more than one most important thing. Now you can make a case for a priority to be more important than something, but not the most important, I guess. But there is only one most important thing. Busy American culture just is trying to squeeze more in there.
The idea of priority is an interesting one. It’s often that I realize that my priority has gotten off. Or that the thing that I want to be priority has made its way far down in my list of things to take care of.
Like when you say the Word is vital for your life, but haven’t gotten your butt out of bed to read it in almost a month. *guilty* Yes there is grace. And yes there are seasons, I’m not trying to be legalistic here. But I do believe it is vital, and yet, here I am.
A more pressing item that has been coming to mind often is prayer. I firmly believe in the power of prayer and that it is vital to our lives. And yet... There are so many things that I do not think to pray about. And if they aren’t answered with a resounding yes right away, I hesitate to be persistent in prayer as the Bible encourages us to be. Mostly because if I don’t hear a quick and enthusiastic yes, I feel like I failed. Like somehow I prayed wrong. Or asked for something ridiculous.
January is notoriously a month of goals and resolutions. A month of dreaming big dreams of success in the coming year. Planning achievements, progress, changes in jobs, titles, or salaries.
For me it is tempting to get caught up in the planning and goal setting for the year. Do I have things I hope to accomplish this year? Of course. Do I worry that I will fail? Also yes. Failing
I do struggle with a fear of failure. It keeps me from pursuing things, or even trying them unless I know I will succeed. I will quit before I fail.
But over and over, God HS whispered over the last month. What if you prayed? Yes, there are goals to work toward. Go ahead and do those things. But what if you made praying your priority.
What if at the end of this year, all that happened was that you prayed for God’s glory to be seen in the lives of those around you. And you prayed for salvation of those dear ones in your life. Then that would be a successful year.
Even if none of the prayers were answered the way you wanted, that would be a success. And what if God says yes! If I got to the end of the year and none of my goals came to be, but those salvation prayers were answered with a yes.... I can’t even fathom the joy that would bring.
Because I am realizing that God is inviting me to look at my priorities. To rearrange some things. To redefine what success looks like to me.
Would you do the same? What if we committed the next 11 months to praying. For salvation, for healing, for redemption, for our country, and so many more things.
