Spare Tire.

I heard a question asked the other day, and it really hit home with me.

Is praying your steering wheel, or your spare tire?

I have prayed for as long as I can remember. As a child, my parents would tuck me in bed and remind me to "say your prayers" as they turned off the light. I pray at night to thank God for blessings that are undeserved and the ones I take for granted. Once those thank yous and IOUs are covered, I roll over and fall asleep.

Until recently, I only prayed at night. Or when there was a crisis. Prayer was my spare tire. When prayer is your steering wheel, you incorporate prayer throughout your whole day. At every decision, cross road, and speed bump. Prayer should be your GPS.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God
Philippians 4:6
 
Since I'm in a city unfamiliar to me, I whole-heartedly trust my GPS. I would be so lost without it. I would give up and cry in frustration. A GPS is my only hope for guidance when I am going down an unfamiliar road. A little satellite up in the sky can see my every movement, and let's me know the second I turn down a wrong path. My GPS corrects my route and adapts to where I am. A driver who refuses to use a GPS is just plain stubborn.

So why is it so easy to trust a GPS and not prayer? Prayer is your only hope for guidance. Without prayer, people give up and cry in frustration. God, up in the sky looking over the whole entire world, sees my every move and would let me know immediately when I am going down the wrong path if I would just listen. Prayer would correct my path the minute I go astray and adapt to my circumstances. Refusing to trust prayer and be in charge of your own life is just plain stubborn. I know all of these things to be true and yet, it is so easy to make prayer a spare tire.

I want to make prayer my steering wheel, to guide my every decision, the choices I make in work, with myself, and my relationships with family, friends, and Tanner. When you fully trust in prayer, you no longer feel like you are dragging an 18-wheeler behind you. A burden is lifted when you know you are being guided by the holy spirit - a God that knows all things and sees all things. Where to begin? Start by praying to make prayer your steering wheel.

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matthew 6:5-8).