Then the Lord said to Moses, “Quit praying and get the people moving! Forward, march!”
Exodus 14: 15 (LB)
Scripture: Exodus 14: 10-23
God gives us a wonderful communication tool — praying. However, there are times when praying isn’t enough. This devotion looks at when God wants us to quit praying and put feet to our prayers.
The Israelites were in Egypt exactly 430 years. After Joseph had died, the Egyptians made the Jews their slaves. It seemed that God had turned away from them.
Then — out of nowhere — came Moses. He said God had sent him to lead His people out of bondage. The Jewish people rejoiced — God had answered their prayers. Rejoiced, that is, until Pharaoh refused to let them go.
The going got tough, and the Israelites wanted everything to go back to the way it was. (Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?) Now that they were one step past the beginning prayer stage, they wanted to renege.
We all know what happened next — flies, hail, frogs, locust, darkness. All of this was aimed at Pharaoh to convince him to let God’s people go. But while God was convincing the Pharaoh, He was also convincing Israel.
Now everyone was convinced it was time for the Jews to leave, so they did. Everything was fine until the Red Sea. Here came Pharaoh with his army, and it looked like there was no where to go.
So, Moses did the right thing — he prayed about it. But just praying about it is not what God wanted. He wanted action, movement. I don’t believe that only prayer opened up the Red Sea.
Moses prayed about it, and the Israelites started toward the Sea. Okay, they still would have gotten their feet wet at this point. But they put feet to their prayers, knowing The Great I Am would deliver them. They showed by their actions that they believed in prayer and that they believed in God.
So many times, we leave the movement stage out of our prayer life. We forget that just saying the words isn’t enough. We shouldn’t wait for God to do everything.
God wants us to show our trust in Him to be there with us, answer us, and provide for us. As wonderful as the communication tool of prayer is for us, it doesn’t show those around us the complete picture of how we are trusting Him with our lives. That is our job as a follower of Christ — show His love and light to others. Others can’t see our trust in Him if we don’t show it.
Lip service is easy. I recently read where our words are who we want to be. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am a fake-it-until-I-make-it girl. I tell myself I am a strong, confident, intelligent, charismatic, wonderful [add your descriptor here] person — even if I don’t feel that way at the time. Telling myself this is me striving to be whom I wish to help me become that person.
However, it is our actions that tell us who we are at the present. I agree with that statement, especially when our actions do not match our words. We can say we love someone, want to spend time with them, put them on a pedestal [put in your descriptor of what was used to hurt you when actions did not match words] — and do the exact opposite. Wanting to be that person in the future doesn’t really help the relationship in the present.
Sometimes, we can do that to God. We can say we trust God to answer our prayers. We thank Him for always providing for us. But it is just our lips saying that. It isn’t our heart believing it.
Don’t get me wrong. He will prove Himself to us at times. But we also have to prove to Him that we really do believe.
Yes, many times it will involve our deepest fears. That is what happened to me in my spiritual tornado. I was afraid God really wouldn’t provide in my financial situation. Then, all I could do was put my trust in Him because I couldn’t depend on myself anymore. I had to put feet to my prayers and reach out and take the support He was providing for me.
We have to reach out and accept God’s gift of provision. It’s kind of like the joke I heard a long time ago about the man and the flood. (I don’t know whose it is, so credit to whoever wrote this.)
It’s raining and raining, and here is a man sitting on top of his car to get out of the water. A boat comes along, and the people in it offer to give him a ride to safety. The man says, “No, thanks. I prayed about it, and God says He’ll save me.” A couple of hours later, another boat comes along, but this time the man is in a tree because the water is still rising. They offer to give him a ride. Again, he says, “No, thanks. I prayed about it, and God says He’ll save me.” The water keeps on rising, and now the man is on his rooftop. A helicopter comes and offers to pick him up. One more time, “No, thanks. I prayed about it, and God says He’ll save me.” The man drowns. His soul goes to heaven where he meets God. The man says, “Father, I’m hurt. You said You would save me, and You didn’t.” To this God replies, “But I sent you two boats and a helicopter. What more did you want?”
All the man had to do was step out. Is it easy? No. Will God be there for you? Yes. How can you step out today?
Merciful, patient Heavenly Father. You have sent Your Son to bridge the gulf so we can pray to You. You have taught us how to pray and have also sent the Holy Spirit to assist us in our prayers. Lord, show us our sins so we can confess them to You and eliminate them from hindering our fellowship with You. Lord, help us put our prayers into action. Help us not only to acknowledge Your gifts to us, but also to use these gifts to lead others to You. Amen.
What do you think? How is God asking you to move toward getting wet feet? This can be a difficult topic, so I understand if you don’t want to leave a comment below or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion. You are always welcome to leave a reply on whatever questions I post or any other comment that you may have. You can also send me an email and let me know how you would like me to pray for you (even if it is an unspoken request). I want to be here to support you in any way you need. I can’t do that if you don’t tell me.
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