Someone once asked, “Is prayer your steering wheel or just a sidecar?” In other words, do you treat prayer as your guiding force or as something extra, reserved for emergencies?
The early church made prayer a priority, not an afterthought. In Acts 1, before choosing a replacement for Judas, the disciples prayed together, seeking God’s direction. In Acts 4, when they faced threats and persecution, they did not strategize first—they prayed, and the place where they gathered was shaken as they were filled with the Holy Spirit. When Peter was imprisoned in Acts 12, the believers did not panic or plot an escape plan. They gathered to pray, and God miraculously freed him.
Prayer was not just part of their lives. It shaped their decisions, strengthened their faith, and moved the hand of God.
It is easy to let prayer slip into the background until a crisis pushes us back to it. But what if we lived like the early church, letting prayer lead us instead of following behind us? What if we sought God’s wisdom before making decisions, asked for His power when facing obstacles, and trusted Him in both the small and big moments? What if we viewed prayer not merely as a way to receive something from God, but as a means of deepening our fellowship with Him?
Is prayer your first priority or your last resort?