It is easy to hide laziness under the cover of prayer. God never intends prayer to substitute for diligence or action. Tony Crooke said, ‘“Frederick Douglas once said, I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” Too often we pray and wait, expecting God to do something, while He’s actually waiting for us to act.”’ Indeed, most of the answers to prayers will come through actions. I have a terse comment on a line of the Lord’s Prayer. When the Lord taught us to pray, “Give us this day, our daily bread”, He wasn’t expecting us to say that lying in bed all day. It is a kind of prayer we make in the workshop. When we are at our occupation and ask the Lord to give us daily bread, we create the environment to receive answers to prayer.
“God never intends prayer to substitute for diligence or action.”
Our text shows Jacob’s pragmatic steps to minimize losses if Esau attacked him. Note that he prayed before taking that step, and prayed some more after it. It is worth repeating that prayer will never replace constructive steps. In prayer, we can receive wisdom for direction. However, not much will change until we add action to God’s leading.
