Prayer Plus

Bible Reading: Nehemiah 4:7-9

“Audra, have you finished studying your spelling?” Mom asked.

“What? Oh, almost,” answered Audra, who was watching a TV show. “I’ll go over it again when this show’s done.”

When the show ended, one of Audra’s friends wanted to video chat, and she spent the next half hour talking with her. And then it was time for bed. No time to study now, she thought sleepily. I guess I’ll just have to ask God to help me if I get stuck on my test tomorrow.

As the test began the next day, Audra quickly asked God to help her do well. But when the tests were returned, Audra was disappointed in her grade—it was a D.

“Mom, doesn’t the Bible say that if we lack wisdom, we should ask God for it?” Audra asked when she got home. “Well, I asked, and I expected Him to help me do better than a D!”

Before Mom could reply, Audra’s phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of her pocket. “My school just sent a notification that kids are getting things stolen from their lockers,” she said. “Can I have money to buy a lock for my locker? I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to me.”

“Why don’t you just pray about it?” asked Mom. “Ask the Lord to protect your things.”

“Mom! It’s good to pray about it, but it’s important to put a lock on my locker too.”

“In other words, even though you pray, you should also do what you can to take care of the problem,” Mom said. “And wouldn’t that be true of your spelling test too? You didn’t study much, did you? You expected God to help you remember things you never learned.”

Audra knew Mom was right. “Doing bad on the test was my own fault,” she admitted with a sigh.

Mom nodded. “Jesus promises to listen to our prayers and always take care of us. But that doesn’t mean we should do things that are unwise or neglect to do the work He’s given us to do—like learning spelling words. Pray about things you’re worried about, and trust Him to give you wisdom about what you need to do.” – Hazel Marett

How About You?

Do you pray about schoolwork? About money? About friends who don’t know Jesus? Prayer is only part of the battle. You also need to study, try to earn money, and tell your friends about Jesus. When the walls of Jerusalem were being rebuilt, God’s people prayed—and they also posted a guard. Pray about everything, then trust God to guide you in what He wants you to do.

Today’s Key Verse: Matthew 26:41 (Jesus said) Watch and pray. (NKJV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Pray for wisdom