Things going well? Pray heavily!
Most of us pray for God’s help when we’re having problems. We know that he is our rescuer. But some poignant words in Hosea 11 got my attention this morning:
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt…I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand…I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck, and I myself stooped to feed him.
What a sweet picture of God! He shows himself as a loving father guiding the young nation of Israel out of Egypt and personally “stooping” to earth to take care of them. They had cried out to him for help and–working through Moses–he had responded. But in Hosea 13 we see how the people responded:
I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land. But when you had eaten and were satisfied, you became proud and forgot me. So now I will attack you like a lion, like a leopard that lurks along the road.
To call on God when we’re in trouble comes easily. But when things are going well it’s all too easy to cut back on our prayer lives, confident that we can handle it ourselves. Any parent with an ungrateful child knows the feeling that when the phone rings he or she must need something. Is it such a surprise that God doesn’t want the feeling that we only love him for what he can do for us?
When things are going well, we need to remember that we need to pray more–for protection from the pride, arrogance, and forgetfulness that lets us think we can handle things now.
