Take the Opportunity to Pray

2 Thessalonians 3:6-9 (NIV) “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV) “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Titus 3:1-2 (NIV) “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.”

One of my mentors in ministry always used to say, “Strike while the iron is hot.” It is a simple phrase used to convey the truth that opportunities don’t last long, and we need to take advantage of them before they cease to be opportunities. Oftentimes, the opportunities that the Lord gives us are an inconvenience. We must make changes in order to take advantage of them. Sometimes these changes are very difficult to make. Other times the changes are not difficult to make, but they go against our tendency toward complacency and idleness. Even though they make not be difficult changes to make in the overall grand scheme of life, they so easily turn into missed opportunities if we allow idleness to rule.

The easiest opportunities to take advantage of are praying for one another and praying for circumstances we face each day. The scripture tells us to pray continually, yet those day in and day out opportunities to pray with a brother or sister in Christ just seem to slip through our fingers. Let us determine to be at the ready to pray. A five second prayer can be more powerful in the right moment than an hour of prayer at another time. Let us determine to pray continually about the challenges and joys we face daily. Let us determine to be an example of diligent pray-ers to other followers of Christ as well as those who don’t know the Lord – not doing it for show but as those who don’t allow our life of prayer to be idle as we depend on our heavenly Father at all times.