If you have not prayed today, I want you to stop reading now and pray. I want to urge you
to pray in two specific ways.
First, let prayer be the very first thing you do every day when you wake up.
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."
-Mark 1:35
Jesus had the habit of praying early in the morning. He made prayer a priority. And prioritize
means to make it first. When we say, “I’ll get to it when I get to it,” we are not making it a priority.
Greg McKeown, in his book Essentialism, he explains the history of the word priority and how
the meaning has shifted. “The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. It was
singular. It meant the very first or prior thing. It stayed singular for the next five hundred years.
Only in the 1900s did we pluralize the term and start talking about priorities. Illogically, we
reasoned that by changing the word we could bend reality. Somehow, we would now be able to
have multiple ‘first’ things.”
To prioritize literally means to make something “the very first thing.” It is something regarded as
more important than anything or anyone, and it goes before other things. Is prayer that for you?
Early in the morning? The First thing?
Corrie Ten Boom once said, “Do not pray when you feel like it. Have an
appointment with the Lord and keep it.”
Secondly, let prayer be your first response when you face life’s difficulties or demands.
God is with us! He has the power to help us in our moments of need.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 4:6-7
Our first response should always be to pray. You will hear the saying “All we can do is pray.”
We say it after all other options have been exhausted. When we have tried to do everything else.
I hope if you or I have done that we will stop. Prayer is powerful. It is not a last resort; it is the
greatest thing we could do. Giving all of it to God. Trusting that He will provide through any
difficult situation.
Today, let us pray first and constantly in response to all situations.
Daily Reading: First response or last resort
Luke 5:16; Philippians 4:6-7
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