[Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: A time to pray, and a time to act

Read: Exodus 14:1-31 

Meditation verse: 

“And the Lord said to Moses, “why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward” (Exodus 14:15).

The importance of prayers in dealing with the challenges of life cannot be over  emphasised, but there is a place and a time for action. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says’ to  everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. In today’s  reading, the children of Israel found themselves between the red sea and the  chariots of the Egyptians marching after them. God made it clear to them that it  was not a time for standing and crying, it was action time. They needed to move  forward.  

Similarly, we all have expectations or challenges that we are dealing with. We  have prayed and fasted for a long time, but nothing seems to be happening. Is it  possible that God is expecting you to take a step of faith and act? Is there  something you know you should do, but you are reluctant because of fear?  Perhaps He is saying to you “why do you stand there and cry to me, go forward”. 

God will not steer your heart in a particular direction unless He has gone ahead  to make provision for you. 

Prayer must have its place in our lives, but there is a time and a place for acting.  Several times, we keep praying and committing a particular endeavour into  God’s hands, even after we have received clarity concerning what to do. As a  young Christian, I had the habit of praying and expecting God to work miracles  whilst I did nothing, until I came to an understanding that God expects us to act  after we pray. In the place of prayer, we receive clarity, wisdom, and strength,  and then we must do as the Spirit directs our hearts. There is a time to pray and  a time to act. And happy are you if you can correctly discern the timing. 

If you have been praying for a breakthrough in an area of your life and it seems  to tarry, could it be that God is waiting for you to act? It’s still the beginning of  a new year and God is saying to you “go forward”. Are you willingly to take a  step of faith today?

 

IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Pst (Mrs) Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

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