You Ought to Pray
The Aboriginal Australians of long ago never associated conception with childbirth. Because of the time lapse between copulation and birth being separated by nine months they never equated the two. The act and the outcome were dissociated.
That same outlook exists in our society regarding two actions.
Many people never link an adverse action and the ultimate outcome in spite of Scripture linking them: “Be sure your sins will find you out.” Some seem to think that if a person sins and there are no immediate consequences, they get away with it. Often a repentant person does not suffer overtly because of a sin. But the sin itself was the discipline in that the act prevented the enjoyment of the moment had it been ideally spent.
Fifty-one years ago a young woman in our community was sexually assaulted and murdered. Using genetic genealogy police have now been able to connect the accused with a cloth from the scent by matching the genetic signature of a distant relative of the perpetrator. Normally after the lapse of such time the act would not be connected with the ultimate outcome. Not all crimes are solved, but all criminals reap the result before God.
From a more pleasant point of view some never associate a prayer offered and the deferred answer. Often the time lapse dissociates the two. The Bible is replete with stories of delays experienced in answered prayers. There are reasons for such.
Often God acts immediately to prepare things in order to answer a prayer. On other occasions time is required in order to prepare the one praying before God overtly acts.
Reflect on your prayers, old and new, and see if in retrospect you thought some were not answered and in reality they were. Some good things of today may actually be direct or indirect responses to prayers of long ago.
Give God time to be God.
God lovingly and wisely knows how best to respond to our prayers. It is incumbent on us to pray. His response is always to our advantage.
Have you had some prayers to which He answered “No?” Have you thanked Him for not giving you some things because He knew they were not best for you?”
“You ought always to pray, and not to faint.”
Of Jesus it is said, “He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart…” (Luke 18: 1).