How do you respond when a crisis happens in your life? Do you call your spouse or best friend and unload everything that’s happened seeking a shoulder to cry on?  Do you come up with a list of options of how you could respond? Or do you find a quiet place and fall on your face before the Lord?
I have to admit that for most of my life I ran to the phone before I ran to the throne.  That didn’t usually work out too well for me.  You see, the people I ran to could rarely, if ever, change my situation.  So why do we run to people before God?  Come on now, admit it.  I know I’m not the only one who is guilty of doing so.  We run to the phone before we run to the throne.
Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.”  1 Peter 5:7 tells us to cast our cares on Jesus because He cares for us.  He is there, ready, able, and willing, to step into our situations and work them together for good [Romans 8:28]. 
We have to stop seeing prayer as a last resort.  Too many times we try everything we can think of and then we pray after all else fails.  Prayer should be the first step we take in any situation. Mark Batterson said, “Prayer is the difference between you fighting for God and God fighting for you.”  It’s the difference between the best you can do and the best God can do.  Personally, I prefer God’s best over my best every day of the week.  I want His solutions, His plans, His favor….
            What have we lost by pausing in earnest prayer over a situation?  A few minutes maybe, a couple of hours if we’re  intense intercessors.  But what have we gained?  When we pause giving our lives and situations to the Lord and ask Him to step into them, He comes and He brings the full weight of heaven with Him [Matthew 28:18].  If that is the choice I’m faced with, I’m choosing Jesus.  I’m choosing prayer! 
            We’ve got to realize prayer is a powerful tool the Lord gave us.  It allows us to pull back the curtain of heaven and have a conversation with the Creator of heaven and earth.  So many times we fight to gain an audience with powerful or famous people and are beyond ourselves excited if it happens.  People, how much more powerful or famous can you get than God?  He has an open door policy where you’re concerned.  Forget the phone, you’ve got the Throne! It’s time to make the gates of hell quake.  Hit your knees and talk with your Daddy.  When you pray to God regularly, you will see irregular things happen regularly in your lives. What do you think?  Does that sound like something you’d like to see in your life?  Then what are you waiting for?