Spiritual Procrastination
My wife and I have both been greatly inspired by the challenges regarding prayer that Mark Batterson offers in his book, Draw the Circle. In one section, the Washington D.C.–based pastor talks about not allowing prayer to be a substitute for action but a stimulus to action.
“There comes a moment when praying becomes a form of spiritual procrastination. It’s time to stop praying and start acting…One of the great mistakes we make is asking God to do for us what God wants us to do for Him.
“…Prayer that doesn’t lead to action isn’t true prayer; it’s self-talk. When we talk to God, God will talk back to us. He will provoke us, rouse us, stir us, goad us, and prompt us. When we say ‘amen,’ inaction is no longer an option.
"One of the great mistakes we make is asking God to do for us what God wants us to do for Him." - Mark Batterson
“After hitting our knees, we need to take a small step of faith. And those small steps of faith often turn into giant leaps. Like Noah, who kept building an ark day after day, we keep hammering away at the dream God has given us. Like the Israelites, who kept circling Jericho for seven days, we keep circling God’s promises.
“Like Elijah, who kept sending his servant back to look for a rain cloud, we actively and expectantly wait for God’s answer. …We can pray until our knees are numb, but if our praying isn’t accompanied by acting, then we won’t get anywhere. We need to put feet to our faith. After kneeling down, we need to stand up and step out in faith.”
Good stuff, eh?
Waiting for Perfect Weather
The thing is, many times the challenge isn’t that I don’t know the need to take steps of faith, it’s that I can talk myself out of doing so because, to my way of thinking, the timing isn’t right. Conditions aren’t completely favorable. Circumstances aren’t totally risk-free.
So I hesitate. Or, to be more blunt, I procrastinate.
Yet, the writer of the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes (whom many Bible scholars believe was King Solomon – one of the wisest men who ever lived) used an agricultural illustration to warn against such thinking. Take a look at his words.
“Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.” (Ecc. 11:4)
Solomon understood that the farmers of his day epitomized the walk of faith. They literally put the survival of their families on the line every year. Successful planting and harvest were both weather dependent. A mistake could be disastrous.
Yet they also knew that to fail to act out of fear of “what if” would be no less disastrous. Opportunities lost would carry their own price tag.
As we were praying about launching Dave DeSelm Ministries, we faced this issue big-time. We were walking away from our salaries and benefits and into an array of financial challenges. We were stepping into arenas of ministry that would stretch our knowledge, experience, and capacity.
We were stepping into truly uncharted territory. As such, we had a lot more questions than answers.
Now, nearly two years, we can see that the risk we took was worth it. The planting took root and we’re beginning to see some harvest. But it all began with taking a step of faith.
Faith Steps
So how about you? Where is it that you’ve been thinking about stepping out into the intimidating unknown? What have you been praying about but you’ve been hesitating to make a move on? Casting a challenging vision? Launching a daring initiative? Reorganizing your staff?
In looking at those things, you will face what we did. The “what ifs” will haunt you. Fear of all that could go wrong will dog you.
Yet, as Batterson noted, “We can pray until our knees are numb, but if our praying isn’t accompanied by acting, then we won’t get anywhere. We need to put feet to our faith. After kneeling down, we need to stand up and step out in faith.”
“We can pray until our knees are numb, but if our praying isn’t accompanied by acting, then we won’t get anywhere. We need to put feet to our faith. After kneeling down, we need to stand up and step out in faith.” – Mark Batterson
We at DDM are going to keep taking those steps and look forward to sharing with you soon about where God has been leading us.
I pray you will take some faith steps as well. The current conditions may not be perfect; but maybe, just maybe, there’s a harvest to be realized.
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