"Prayer or Assumption"

"And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper." 2 Chronicles 26:5

Many confuse prayer with assumption. They assume this or that is the will of the Lord without ever seeking Him on the matter to find out if it truly is His will or not. They reason within themselves that this thing is a "good" thing, therefore, it must be a "God" thing. Or because whatever it is appeals to them, so it has to be from God. Some assume that it is God's plan because it came across their path- surely if this wasn't God this "door" never would have opened.

There is one sure way in which to know the will and plan of God-- it is called prayer! If we aren't seeking God in prayer concerning a matter then we really have no assurance that it is God. And we have no guarantee that we will prosper in it. We talk about the importance of prayer, yet we neglect it much of the time- and on some of the most important matters.

A couple of familiar verses are Proverbs 3:5,6- "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." These verses are not just guidelines to making sure we are in the will and plan of God, but I see a warning here also. "Don't lean to your own understanding". Why? Let's face it, we aren't as smart as we would like to think we are. We don't know everything. We don't know the future- we can't see the outcome of our decisions before we ever make them. We tend to judge things after appearance. But just because it looks good doesn't mean it is good- a beautifully decorated cake may look appealing, but if it has poison baked into it, it is deadly; one bite can kill you. There is a way that seems right to us, but the end leads to death. (Proverbs 16:25)

True success comes as a result of seeking the Lord- "as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper." Just because we "assume", doesn't mean we have "sought". And if we have not "sought", we will not have success.

Have a great day. Prayer and assumption are not the same thing.

For further reading:
Philippians 4:6,7
James 4:2
1 Samuel 10:22; 16:7
Matthew 7:7; 6:6
John 7:24

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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