Forgotten Prayers

Lately, I have found myself feeling overwhelmed trying to get jobs bid and make sure we have guys available for all the work we have at Steve Mull Plumbing. There are estimates to finish, schedules to arrange, and responsibilities that follow me home even after the workday is over.

But somewhere in the middle of all of that, I began to remember something.

There was a time when I was praying for opportunities to bid those jobs.

As my dad moved out of running the business, I wondered whether I would be able to keep it going. My parents had spent decades building something that provided for our family and served our community. Taking on that responsibility came with questions I couldn’t answer.

Would I be able to lead it well? Would the work keep coming? Could I take care of the employees and their families who depended on us? I prayed for God to help us have an outstanding crew of employees and then prayed to be able to help them succeed.

I prayed for work. I prayed for opportunities. I prayed for the ability to carry what had been entrusted to me.

And now, here I am, feeling overwhelmed by some of the very things I once asked God to provide.  Feeling inadequate to do the thing I prayed God would provide to me!

That realization has challenged my heart.

How often do we become so focused on the weight of our responsibilities that we forget the prayers that preceded them?  How often are we shocked when God answers our prayers and we find it leads us to new prayers ?

We pray for a job, then struggle with the demands of working. We pray for children, then grow weary in the daily work of raising them. We pray for a home, then feel burdened by everything it takes to maintain it. We pray for opportunities to serve, then feel stretched when people need our time.

Those responsibilities can be difficult. Being thankful doesn’t mean pretending we aren’t tired or that everything is easy. There are times when we need rest, help, better boundaries, or wiser decisions.

But we also need to remember.

In Deuteronomy 8, Moses warned the people of Israel about what could happen after they entered the land God had promised them. When they had eaten and were full, when they had built homes and their possessions had multiplied, they were to beware of forgetting the Lord.

They had depended on Him in the wilderness. They would need to remember Him in their abundance.

That warning reaches into my own life. I can remember to ask God for help when I don’t know where the next opportunity will come from, yet become so consumed with managing those opportunities that I forget to thank Him when they arrive.

The prayer request becomes a responsibility. The responsibility becomes routine. And somewhere along the way, gratitude gets crowded out.

First Thessalonians 5:18 tells us, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

That includes the busy days. The tiring days. The days when the schedule is full and I’m not sure how I will get everything done.

I can ask God for wisdom to manage the work and thank Him that there is work to manage. I can acknowledge that leading a business is hard and remember that He has carried me through fears I once wondered how I would face.

Gratitude grows when we take time to remember where we were and how God has provided along the way.

So before we complain about everything on our plate, perhaps we ought to pause and remember how much of it we once prayed would be there.

What in your life feels heavy right now that you once asked God to give you?

A family? A job? An opportunity? A responsibility you hoped someone would trust you to carry?

Bring the weight of it to the Lord. Ask Him for the strength and wisdom you need today. And as you pray, remember to thank Him for the ways He has answered you through the years.

I still have bids to finish and schedules to work out. But I want to approach them with a grateful heart.

There was a time when I prayed for these opportunities. I don’t want to be so busy carrying them that I forget the One who provided them.  Remember - when we recognize that, we can be anxious for nothing because God takes care of everything!