Prayer is powerful. But prayer is not magic.
Many Christians are frustrated because they expect prayer to do what only WORK and WISDOM will do.
Here are 5 things prayer will NEVER do for you:
1. Prayer will never do the WORK for you.
You prayed for open doors, but you refused to knock.
You prayed for a job, but you have not sent one CV this month.
James 2:17 — "Faith without works is dead."
Prayer brings opportunity. Work takes the opportunity. If you only pray and never work, you will be a praying beggar.
2. Prayer will never cover up lack of CHARACTER.
You pray "God bless my marriage" but you are still rude, cheating, and proud.
You pray "God give me customers" but you lie to customers and cheat them.
Prayer cannot preserve what your character is destroying. God answers prayer, but character sustains the answer.
3. Prayer will never replace OBEDIENCE.
You are praying for God's will, but you already know what God told you to do — to forgive that person, to leave that sin, to pay that debt — and you have refused.
1 Samuel 15:22 — "Obedience is better than sacrifice."
You cannot disobey God in the day and pray to Him in the night and expect results.
4. Prayer will never make you grow without the WORD.
You pray 5 hours but you don't study Bible for 5 minutes.
You want revelation but you don't open the Book.
Prayer talks TO God. The Word lets God talk TO YOU.
If you only talk and never listen, you are not having fellowship — you are having monologue.
5. Prayer will never change what YOU are supposed to change.
Some things are not for prayer — they are for DECISION.
You are praying for God to remove laziness, but you refuse to wake up by 5am.
You are praying for God to remove anger, but you keep hanging around people who provoke you and you refuse counselling.
God won't do for you what He gave YOU the power to do.
So what should you do?
PRAY — but after you pray,
WORK,
OBEY,
STUDY,
and CHANGE what you can change.
Prayer is the key. But you still have to turn the door handle.
Stop blaming God. Start taking responsibility.
Pst Edward Freedom
Lifeboat Rescuing Church, Bariga, Lagos.
#PrayerAndWork #WisdomForLife
