I am thinking again of Jacob’s lack of prayer when it came to dealing with Laban. When the time came for him to leave, he had to flee. There had to be a number of ways he could have dealt with this even though the problem was very real. Prayer would have been a good place to start.

 Jacob deceived Laban by not letting him know that he was leaving. – Genesis 31:20

Wisdom comes through prayer. I think Esther was able to stand and expose the truth regarding Haman because she committed it to prayer.

Then King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who dares to do such a thing? Where is this man?”

Esther answered, “Our enemy, our persecutor, is t Bs evil man Haman!”

Haman faced the king and queen with terror. – Esther 7:5-6 GNT

I think there is a relationship between prayer and taking action. When I look at the story of a man’s friends taking him through a roof to see Jesus, and the subsequent  forgiveness of sins and healing, I think it offers some insight here.

A few days later Jesus went back to Capernaum, and the news spread that he was at home.So many people came together that there was no room left, not even out in front of the door. Jesus was preaching the message to themwhen four men arrived, carrying a paralyzed man to Jesus.Because of the crowd, however, they could not get the man to him. So they made a hole in the roof right above the place where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they let the man down, lying on his mat. Seeing how much faith they had, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

Some teachers of the Law who were sitting there thought to themselves,“How does he dare talk like this? This is blasphemy! God is the only one who can forgive sins!”

At once Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, “Why do you think such things? Is it easier to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’?I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man,“I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home!”

While they all watched, the man got up, picked up his mat, and hurried away. They were all completely amazed and praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” – Mark 2:1-12 GNT

When we think we are acting out our faith but notice no internal changes, those should be red flags that we may be hiding behind our religion. May our time of prayer give us the wisdom as to how we will move forward in our relationship with God.

“Those who believe in the Holy Scriptures are bound to observe its teachings. Those who do not are to be bound by its consequences.” – William Bradford

“A salty pagan, full of the juices of life, is a hundred times dearer to God, and also far more attractive to men, than a scribe who knows his Bible…in whom none of this results in repentance, action, and above all, death of the self. A terrible curse hangs over the know-it-all who does nothing.” – Helmut Thielicke

We modern Christians are long on talk and short on conduct…It is easier to pray, “Lord, help me to carry my cross daily” then to pick up the cross and carry it. A.W.Tozer