Prayer Should Not Be Your Last Resort - by Dr. Larry Ollison

Prayer Should Not Be Your Last Resort - by Dr. Larry Ollison
Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a very bad situation, and someone said to you, "Well, the only thing left to do is to pray"? How did you react? Did you think, "Oh my goodness, has it come to that?" Or did you ask, "Are things really that bad?"
Unfortunately, that's how most people in today's society feel about spiritual things. Many people never turn to God until they have absolutely nowhere else to turn. God is usually their last resort. So many times, Jesus has to wait until the deepest, darkest hour because that's when people finally turn to Him.
Some people actually believe that God put them in the hospital just so He could talk to them. But the truth of the matter is many people never look up until they are lying flat on their backs! God had the answer for them all the time, but it wasn't until they were forced to lie still and get quiet that they would listen to the voice of God. God doesn't knock people down just so He can help them get back up.
James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow or turning." God does not send sickness and poverty and misery just to teach us something. He sent Jesus to die on the cross for us because He wanted to set us free from the curse of sin!
Some have the wrong idea about God and spiritual things. Too many people don't understand God, and it's a natural tendency for people to fear what they don't understand. What kind of images pop into your mind when someone mentions the spiritual realm to you? What kind of words would you use to describe the spirit realm?
Most people use words like dark, eerie, cold, mysterious and spooky to describe the spiritual realm. Whenever you mention spiritual things, they automatically get flashbacks of Freddy Krueger, Dracula, and all the other horror movies they've seen.
Many associate the spirit realm with death, because the only time they think about it is when someone they know dies. This constitutes a great victory for the enemy of our souls. Satan wants to keep our attention fixed on the natural and physical side of life. Only in the most painful moments of grief do most people consider spiritual things. It's no wonder they have a dark picture of the spirit realm. Just like people associate a doctor with sickness and pain, they associate the spirit realm with death. This causes people to respond to spiritual things with death in the forefront of their minds. But God sent Jesus so that we could have LIFE!
God doesn't want you to turn to Him as a last resort! He doesn't want you to be afraid of Him. 1 John 4:18-19 says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us."
Romans 8:14 says, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God."
He wants to lead you and guide you from the very beginning. He wants you to put Him first! If people would learn to look to God first, then they wouldn't get themselves into the messes that they do. God is a merciful God, and He will always help you with your problems when you ask Him to. But He never wanted you to go through that problem in the first place. He has a better way!
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