…….do the most. Is that true? Many would say that it cannot be. The argument goes that all that time spent in prayer could be utilized more usefully in doing something productive. But that argument is wrong! It is true; those who pray most do the most.
Martin Luther memorably (and challengingly) said “If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business, I cannot go without spending three hours daily in prayer.” Such reasoning is completely counter-intuitive because we can see prayer as “dead” time and doing as “living” time.
To think that prayer time is dead time is a gross folly. Rather, in prayer we become alive to God so the we can live lives that bring life and good to others. A praying man is a person who is alive.
When we pray we are forming ourselves in the mind of God. This means that our activity is conformed to the ways of God. We are being saved from wasted activity. Prayerless activity tends towards the chaotic and impotent. Prayer filled activity tends towards profit and productivity.
If you look at the life of David you can often suss what is about to happen as regards to whether or not he seeks the Lord. When he seeks the Lord the trajectory is good and good outcomes are anticipated. When he fails to pray, the trajectory of his life and activity is bad.
Engaging in any activity without praying displays presumption on our part. We presume that we can go forward without God. In such a scenario we become the deliverers of the kiss of death into our activities and the lives of others.. Rather than turning things to gold we turn things into corpses.
As a concomitant of praying much and doing much we also enjoy much. As God works through us we can know His joy in the things we undertake. The meshing together of the flow of our lives for Christ is seen when Paul says to the Thessalonians
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thess. 5:16-22).
We notice here how rejoicing, praying and giving thanks pile on top of each other as we work out the Spirit and Word filled life. Accordingly, we learn that no only do the people pray do the most they also enjoy the most.
Ultimately this is all to do with the fact that prayer is about communion with God. And how much am I praying? The answer to such a question will really indicate whether or not I am living well.