Unfortunately, a great many people also play at praying. They do not expect God to give them an answer, so they simply squander their prayer time. Our Heavenly Father desires us to transact real business with Him in our praying….

How often do I set aside a time to pray and find myself making up a to-do list of what I need to do that day  in my head? How often does my mind wander when I pray? More often than I’d like to admit.

I imagine that might be why the Baptist preacher from England, Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), said the above quote. How seriously do we take prayer? Do we pray when there’s a need? Yes. Do we pray when we’re happy? Sometimes. Do I really want to hear what God has to say to me? Well…most of the time.

I can tell you of a time when I received very bad news in my personal life. I was shocked. Embarrassed. Disappointed. It would cost me money. I feared I might be laughed at. I had been praying for months, seeking God’s will on this one thing. Finally one morning, I prayed,  God I can’t do this on my own, You will have to do it.  When I stated those words, I meant them. And He answered.

I didn’t receive peace, as I often do when I pray about a particular need, but I was transacting real business with God. And guess what? He answered it. Not the way I expected at all.

It was rejection. The relationship I thought was in my future had just been ended abruptly. Yes. God heard my prayer and answered. Honestly, although I felt the emotions I listed: shock, embarrassment, disappointment, I remembered my earlier prayer. That removed some, although not all, of the sting.

How about you? I won’t and cannot judge your actions when you pray, you must do that on your own.

That next morning, in shock, I looked at my devotional and read this little-known Scripture. Here’s what it said:

I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint (Habakkuk 2:1).

I realized that’s what I needed to do. Watch, wait, listen.

Kind of like the Railroad signs I look at but don’t often see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back to that time ten years ago now, I am grateful. That very day? Not so much. But I know the Holy Spirit directly answered my prayer. How about joining me in conducting “real business” in prayer?

Enjoy this Spring weekend, it’s Palm Sunday. Hosanna to the King!