Have you noticed how easy it is to get distracted from prayer when everything is mostly fine?
I was thinking about that because Caryn recently had an encounter with a fire ant mound, and she got several bites on her foot. Her foot swelled up really big. Like, scary big. And I was definitely watching it closely because I was concerned.
And in that moment, prayer became an immediate priority.
Thankfully, she is fine now. Her foot has healed, and everything is okay. But it made me think about how quickly I turn to prayer when something feels urgent. When there is a problem, when someone is sick, when I’m worried, prayer suddenly moves right to the top of the list.
But when life is normal, I can let it slide.
I don’t like admitting that, but it’s true. Prayer is so easy to access that sometimes I treat it like something I can always get to later. And then later becomes tomorrow, and tomorrow becomes “when I really need it.”
But God does not just want to hear from me in the emergency moments. He wants to hear from me regularly. He wants that relationship, that conversation, that steady connection.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”
That does not mean I have to spend every second of every day with my eyes closed. But it does mean prayer should be part of the rhythm of my life, not just something I reach for when I’m scared.
God wants to hear from me when things are urgent, yes. But He also wants to hear from me when things are calm. When I’m grateful. When I’m tired. When I’m driving. When I’m working. When nothing dramatic is happening at all.
So maybe the reminder is simple today: don’t wait for the emergency to talk to God.
He is already listening.