Always Pray First
In 2005 I was a full-time youth pastor for a large church in Covington Georgia. As part of our ministry, we took two major trips each year – one in the summer to North Carolina for white water rafting, tubing, fishing, and horseback riding; and in the winter we returned to Spruce Pine to go snow skiing at Beech Mountain.
Our youth ministry had grown to about 125 students and 18 volunteer staff – and these trips required an enormous amount of planning and preparation. One of the most crucial elements was making sure that everyone was staying on schedule.
One of the most difficult elements of these trips was the driving – at this time we did not own a bus, and it takes a lot of vans to transport that many people with all of their gear and food! The task was clear…leave on time, have a sack lunch to eat on the road because stopping for food took too long – use the bathroom before we leave, cause I aint stopping, always keep the vehicles together, head count, head count, head count – and we pray together before we leave!!! Actually, at this time in our ministry – we prayed before we did anything – I mean… we prayed before we prayed!
Everything was in place – the vans were packed, the headcount was complete, and we all made a huge circle in the parking lot of the church with our hands held together to pray. The prayer was simple… “Father in heaven, please give us safter and protection on the road as well travel, in Jesus’ name, Amen”. After prayer, we loaded the vehicles and got under way – on time! On time – that was a big thing for me back then, I was a tyrant about it. I was also dogmatic about the route we would travel, taking into account fuel stops, traffic, and road construction – you know, so we would stay on schedule!
We were about three hours into the road trip and everything was going perfectly. I had a staff member who was riding in the lead van with me, and their job was to make sure that our caravan was heading in the right direction. Imagine my surprise when I heard them quietly mutter to themselves… “oh no!” “OH NO WHAT?” I asked in the most Christian tone I could muster up. “We are going the wrong way” , they said. “How long have we been going the wrong way?”, I asked, “about thirty minutes”, they said – and this was when my Christion tone left me.
If you’ve already done the math, you realize that this now meant that we were an hour off our schedule. We had traveled thirty minutes down the wrong highway, and it would take us another thirty minutes to return to the overpass where we got off course. An hour later, we would all realize why God allowed us to go the wrong way; and why it is so important to always pray first – before doing anything.
As we approached the overpass where we got off course, we noticed a lot of traffic building up on the interstate – traffic, and sirens, and firetrucks, and ambulances…and wreckage. There were a few vehicles that were crushed up under the bridge, and there were wrecked cars everywhere. As we got closer to the bridge, I was able to ask an officer about the accident. He informed us that two cars got entangled together and hit others before coming to rest up under the bridge. He also told us it would be a while because their had been some fatalities. I then asked the officer how long it had been before the accident happened – and his answer shocked me. “The collision took place a little over an hour ago.” He said…
A little over an hour ago we turned right instead of turning left. A little over an hour ago our large caravan would have been traveling under that bridge – we would have been on schedule, but we would have been in harms way; and we all knew it. Everyone in our van stayed quiet for a long time, and the first thing I heard someone say under their breath was…” Thank you Jesus for protecting us.” We then had a moment of prayer for those who had just lost their lives.
Pray first – before doing anything, pray first; it affects everything. Praying activates our faith; it causes our minds and our hearts to align with the will of God – it initiates miracles and drives away the enemy. Prayer makes a way where there is no way because we are talking with almighty God with whom nothing is impossible. Praying can also mess up your schedule and get you off course – to save your life.
Through all of these stories that I will be sharing with you – it is my hearts desire that you take away one simple conviction; and that is to begin having conversations with God about everything in your life. Your talks with Him don’t have to be religious, or long, or complicated – they just need to be in faith, and from you heart – even if they are about your tractor…more about that next time!