The Last Resort

The last resort. Defined in The American Heritage Idioms Dictionary, it means "a final expedient or recourse to achieve some end or settle a difficulty."

Nothing seems to be going right. I am continuously failing to make progress in an endeavor despite constantly trying. Anxiety takes over. What am I going to do? Eventually, I reach a point where I've exhausted all avenues and there are no other ways to solve the problem. I've come to the last resort.
Now is the time to pray.

Why did I wait so long? Why is prayer so often the last resort? Sadly, I can fall prey to trying everything else before praying.  Maybe you can too. In our culture today, prayer is often seen as a sign of giving up. Admitting defeat. Being out of control. So, we pray, when we have tried and failed to solve a problem on our own.

Did you know that God cares about everything in your life? God wants to help you. You only need ask. Sometimes it feels weird praying.  It feels hard to ask others to pray for me. Humbling, right? But good. What do you face today? A goal that feels out of reach? A difficult meeting? A challenging conversation? An issue too difficult to share? God longs for you to share your need with Him. He is present. He listens. He answers.

I often wonder what our organizations would be like if we, the workers, were committed to praying consistently? What would be different about our work? Our attitude? Our achievements? Our course, we would work hard, but we would come to see that prayer actually strengthens us and makes us better at what we do.  

Looking back over the years, I've never faced a crisis in which, after praying earnestly, God didn't make a way for me. Sometimes, it took time. Sometimes, the answer wasn't always what I wanted. But, God always answered. He delights in answering our prayers. If only we would ask.

"The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results." James 5:16

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.