(or, Is Prayer Enough)
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10 [ii]
When my father bought a farm in 1937, he had no tractor. Instead, he brought two work horses, Fanny and George, along to his new farm. Fanny was a spritely filly, but George was most likely a few degrees above an old plug horse. I vaguely recall the animals, but I do remember Daddy sitting me in front of him on George’s back once. I may have been two or three years old, but the vignette of such a momentous event is still strong in my mind. I am sure, much as he loved his horses, Daddy was happy to purchase a nice John Deere tractor a year or two after moving to the farm. Most of my memories of the farm involved the tractor, but the recollection of Fanny and George are special. Which thought brings up the subject of this journal, “Is prayer enough?” Whether faced with a big or small trial, task, or temptation, the first response should be to pray.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
I Thessalonians 5: 18-18
Prayer is one constant for the Christian no matter the size of the issue. But … (There is always a “but.”) Prayer doesn’t have legs; humans do. Suggesting to someone facing an issue to pray about their problem is good. God can and will work the issue around to His glory and our good. He doesn’t need human help, but He gives opportunities to share the load beside our friend.
Back to the horses. When Daddy, sitting on the mower with the horses hitched up to pull the mower over the hay field, said to the horses, “giddy-up,” he would expect them to pull. What if George had said, “Okay, Gene, we’ll pray about it,” assuming the field would be mowed. Nothing would happen. On the other hand, feisty Fanny, the lead horse, would get going and George, who had more strength than his brains, would move. The two, harnessed together, would get the job done.
No analogy is perfect, of course. When others, however, have issues needing addressed, whatever is involved could be too much to deal with alone. Pray? Absolutely. Get “harnessed” beside them to pull the load? Indeed! Am I willing to get hitched up to someone who has a problem? Or am I like George and would suggest prayer, leaving them to figure out how to take care of their predicament alone?
How? Yes, pray … Suggest prayer; offer to pray with and for them. Although prayer is the only constant in every situation, imploring God may not be the first horse out of the barn. We may not have the faintest idea what they are going through, but to say, “Pray,” even if that is the first thing we think about, prayers may not fit the occasion as our first response. A bit of compassion and interest in them as a person-in-need might be the first call. We most likely do not have the foggiest notion what to do, because we are not experiencing the same issue. Since they have come to us, however, we need to harness up and help them pull the plow through the dilemma. Our responses may only be, “Let me think about this;” or “If I were in your shoes …;” or perhaps, “Tell me more,” and definitely, “What can I do to help?” In other words, be available.
Our friend may not be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps God has allowed this problem to surface in their life as a means of bringing them to faith. Our availability may be the means God’s Spirit will use to bring them to the knowledge of His effectual calling of their spirit.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2: 10
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5: 22-23
Challenge: The next time someone comes to you with a dilemma, be available. Yes, pray, but walk alongside them while you pray.
Prayer: Father God, I pray for my friend in need. You know the answer to what is going on in their life. Help me come alongside as a companion to pull the plow over the rocks and stumps of their dilemma.
[i] https://www.kaltblut-pferd.com/suffolk-punch/
[ii] All Scripture taken from English Standard Version (ESV)
