There is an interesting paradox in today's society. You have all heard of, and become a victim to, the rat race of society. People are all running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to do too many things at one time.

But yet, when you ask a lot of people to do a two minute task for you, it takes them a month or two before they do it regardless of the numerous messages you leave with them. They have their own set of rules and punctuality is not one of them.

So even though they are going faster, it isn't to do something for others, it is quite often only self-serving.

People these days are wallowing in self-importance. They can't see beyond the nose on their face. They see the world through candy-coated lenses and sometimes can't get beyond that.

So what do you do in a world that doesn't cater to your own schedule? You run around trying to do it for them. And in the process, you feel like tearing your hair out. Not because you want to. But because that is the way things are.

So what would it be like if everybody was helpful? It would be a more relaxed world with less rat race and more cooperation.

But yet there would always be some technological endeavor to make things easier and more convenient. There would always be people that are concerned about their own welfare and everybody else's would take a back seat.

It would seem that the ideal Christian world would be where everybody was concerned about everybody else and feel honored to help others. Not just in their prayers, but in action.

But don't get me wrong, praying for others is very valuable and serves a great many purposes. Prayer can be a very good endeavor, and quite often an excellent first step towards making this world a better place.

You can pray for yourself, but most importantly you can pray for others. You can help yourself understand others by making a commitment to a lasting relationship with God.

But prayer needs to be supplemented by action. You can pray and pray, but unless you take that prayer into action the solution may be months or years away.

Oh, you can wait for an answer from God, and some people wait for months for an answer, never really listening for Gods answer, but waiting for an answer is not conducive to a lasting relationship with God. You need to take some action.

That action could be listening for an answer. I mean, if you ask your earthly father a question, I am guessing that most of you will get an answer within the same phone call. But yet, sometimes people don't get an answer for months from God, or so they think.

It is easy to pray, but in order to seek an answer you have to practice the old saying, "God helps those who help themselves." Now there is a phrase that has been misquoted from time to time. Some people think that means that people who help themselves by stealing, will be rewarded. To those who think that is what it means are definitely not getting a firm grip on the true meaning.

God helps those who help themselves means that we need to take action. We need to make some kind of effort to find out what the answer is rather than just praying and sitting there like an idiot waiting for an answer. Because if you do that you may be waiting a very long time.

Look for the answers to prayer. A belief that I have about prayer is that God answers prayer either immediately after prayer or during prayer. But the sunglasses we put on our brains shade us from the truth. The UV, ultraviolet rays are more like the UV, until very long in the future.

So instead of taking action, we may just pray and hope that God gives us an answer without any effort on our parts. But is this what we are supposed to do? Are we supposed to just pray and think that eventually, "in God's time," a lot of people like to say, God will answer your prayers? You could just wait, but that would mean that you do not have a true commitment to God.

Do you really think that just praying will give you whatever you want? Has it been that for you? Have you been given by God all the answers you seek right after prayer or maybe in time?

What I am trying to get at is that you need to actively seek God's answers to prayer. Seek the answers, don't wait for them to fall into your lap.

But how does one get these answers? Ok, I have already said that it is a part of a lasting relationship with God. Doesn't it stand to reason that if you make a time commitment to God that He will reward you in many ways?

Some siblings are jealous of how other siblings are spoiled by the same parents. They wonder why that other person is given more. But yet often the case is that the one getting the "stuff" is the one that spends time with the parents. The person that spends time with the parents obviously will be spoiled the most. But yet other siblings can't seem to grasp that concept. They need to be told and yet they may still not understand.

Spending time with God can not be just praying and waiting for an answer. It entails other things. Serving God by helping others is a good way to have a lasting relationship with God. Listening to what God has to say by spending some quiet time listening to what God has to say.

One good way of doing this is to write some words or ideas that come to mind immediately after prayer. Try getting a piece of paper and write down ideas and words that come to mind immediately after prayer. I realize that a lot of it may be gibberish, but there may be a pearl of wisdom or two that may come out on paper and help you understand that which may have eluded you for some time.

The "bottom line" here, and that seems to be one of the biggest catch phrases of years past, is that "if you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime." Yes, that relates to committing a crime, but look at it a different way. If you want God to take the time to answer your prayers, you got to do the listening and the action-oriented situations that are conducive to a lasting relationship with God.

Otherwise you are just trudging along like a duck waiting for some hunter to blow your head off in mid-flight. You are just dangling a life line hoping God will grab it and say," here is the answer."

Don't wait for an answer without actually seeking the answer and taking the time to seek the answer. Don't be like the people that take two months to do a two minute task for you. Instead be the person that you always wanted to be, whether you realized it or not. And that is to be a person that has a great love for others and that you can be that person through a lasting action-filled relationship with God.

Prayer: Lord, help me to get a better understanding of what you want for me in my life. Help me to find ways of listening to you and finding the answers to my prayers to you. I often get so wrapped up in my own life that I see your light through candy-coated glasses. Please help me to take those glasses off and see what I need to see Lord. And thank you very much for all the answers to prayer you have given me and thank you for all your many blessings. Amen.

Benediction: Now, Lord, Bless us in our daily lives. Help us to smell the roses whenever possible, to shine our light on those less fortunate than us, and lead us in the path we should go. For you are the light that keeps our path well lit. Help us to follow it, until we meet you, in a land where milk and honey abound, a place where our most wonderful dreams are fulfilled. Amen.

Hi, my name is Bryan, a messenger of hope who would love to hear from you. God Bless.

© 2004 Bryan Hill