GOSPEL TRACTS

Praying in the Midst of Busyness

In this day and age, everything is a struggle. We struggle to study, to do business, and to do everything lest we be eliminated. Similarly, in spiritual things we must also take the initiative and time to do them. Once we relax and slack off, there will be no result. The same is true with prayer.

Perhaps some may say that they are too busy and time is not enough. Indeed, as long as we live here on earth, there will be many troublesome matters that will tire us out. Nevertheless, we must bow our head and worship God for arranging such circumstances for us, so that in our busyness we learn to pray. This kind of prayer is weighty and precious.

Many Christians have this concept that once they are freed up from everything, how sweet it would be to find a quiet place to draw near to the Lord in prayer and fellowship. Forgive me for saying this, but even if you should pray under such circumstance, that kind of prayer would not be as valuable. Real prayers happen in a battlefield. Real prayers are all spiritual warfare. In the battlefield, things are not well orchestrated; one seizes the moment to do things. Even eating a meal is with a gun in hand. I once witnessed a battalion in the trenches with waist-high waters. As their bodies were half submerged, they held their weapons on their right hand while the left hand quickly pick a piece of dried food from their canister. This is the condition in combat. Real prayers are those which transpired in the midst of our busyness, when the child is pestering us, when house chores tire us out, when heavy burdens trouble us, when business is not good, when we are busy at home, when we desire to pray yet has no time. It is when we pray under such conditions that genuine prayers are had.

From experience, we know that good prayers happen sporadically. When we pray, the doorbell rings. When the pray, the phone rings. When we pray, our child gets into a car accident and we have to rush him to the hospital. When we pray, news comes that our business failed. When we pray, this matter comes and that matter comes. In the end, we do not even have the opportunity to utter “in Jesus name we pray”! However, let us learn to exercise our spirit to pray in the midst of our busyness.

In this age when the wheel of time turns rapidly, it is difficult to find quietness. We need to be alert and exercise to seize the opportunity to exercise our spirit to pray in the midst of our busyness.