“Do not forsake me, O Lord” (Psalms 38:21)

Are you constantly getting in and out of trouble? The way to avoid this is to constantly pray. Peter was so confident of his ability, he told Jesus, “even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” (Matthew 26:35). A few hours later, he denied Him three times. Christ had warned Him, “Pray, lest you enter into temptation, The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Let’s learn from Peter’s mistake: It’s good to repent after you fail a test, but much better to pray before the test, so you can pass it.

Prayer keeps you humble, submitted to the Lordship of Christ. The Apostle James taught, “count it all joy when you fall into various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2-3). The Greek word translated “patience”, means “stay under”. For the Christian, this means, in trials, you learn to “stay under” the Lordship of Christ. The more trials you go through, the more you learn Christ is all you have left, when everyone and everything you trusted in fails. When disasters happen to sinners, they blame God, but saints eventually come to the realization, that God was in control every step of the way, and they’re not only OK with that, but submit more fully to the Lordship of Christ.

Trials teach you to stay under the Lordship of Christ, but it’s far better if you don’t need a trial.
 
The Apostle Paul told the Colossians, I “do not cease to pray for you ... for all patience and longsuffering with joy” (Colossians 1:9-12). He told the Romans, be “fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer” (Romans 12:11-12). “Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).