Prayer in a world of productivity

by: Mikey Pesqueda

If we were all honest, prayer isn’t something that seems productive. We live in a world that focuses on making our lives, jobs, and technology most productive. 

But has living in a productive world made us so focused on ourselves rather than on the Lord? Are we so focused on how quickly we can accomplish our tasks that we would rather rely on ourselves than our God? I fall into this all the time. I find out we need to pay a bill or things need to get done around the house and instead of asking God to help me in those things, I decide to take these matters into my own hands. Because who better than me would be able to get the things that need to be done quicker. But what if getting things done quicker isn’t what God has intended for us.
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We aren’t geared to be able to do the things that we need to get done without God’s help. We are not able to fight sin well without the help of the Holy Spirit in our Christian walks and we are too quick to be anxious without the help of our Savior. Realizing this and realizing how quick we are to take our lives into our own hands, how do we change our mindsets? We must understand two simple but important things about prayer for this to change.
 
1) Believe God can do more in 5 seconds than we can do in 5 lifetimes. God is not only a God who loves you but he is also a God who created the world in 6 days. God has already done more in 6 days than you have done or will do in this lifetime. So we must believe that the most productive thing for us to do is seek his help. Some of us would never say this out loud but we like being in control. We like being able to be the ones who decide what we should do and not do but this is a part of our rebellious nature. We need to surrender control of our wants and desires to our Lord. And this even goes for our worries. When worries and fears arise, instead of running to how quickly you can “fix” the problem, run to your Savior!
 
2) Pray not only to ask for help but also to know God more. A lot of us use prayer as our outlet to let God know what we need. And this isn’t a bad thing but it alone creates a mindset that treats God more like Santa rather than who he is. Our God is glorious, majestic, and worthy of our praise. In our prayers we must thank God for his goodness and thank him for his character. Do you thank God for not only what he has done in your life but also for who he is? David did! Just read Psalm 8 and you can see how David knew he needed God and knew how glorious God is. We should seek to make our prayers like this.
 
Saying that we need God is an understatement. Our prayers should reflect our need of his help and our desire to know him more. I end with the words of David in Psalm 8:1, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.”