Do We Need to Pray About Everything?

My pastor told us in a sermon one Sunday that we need to pray about everything decision. I know this doesn’t mean in a literal sense because the majority of things we do in a day we don’t pray about. We don’t ask God if we should take a shower, we don’t ask God how many times we should chew our food before swallowing, we don’t pray if we should wipe our ass after taking a dump.

I know that people have common sense when it comes to Pray About Everything. I know that nobody wakes up in the morning and ask God if they should brush their teeth when they know their breath stink and can feel the plaque on their teeth.

For me, I pray about the things that I cannot control or do not know. There is no need for me to pray to God about brushing my teeth in the morning because I already know the consequences if I don’t brush my teeth. God gives us common sense, a conscience, and sound judgement to make most decisions on our own in life. God does not want us to pray about literally every decision that we can make.

So, what decisions do God want us to come to him for? Some people feel like that just want to acknowledge God in every decision they make, but if you already have your mind made up about what decision you’re making then its best not to ask God if you’re not going to follow Him if he gives to the alternate answer.

I’m guilty of that. I would already have a decision made up in my head, but I would still pray to God just to make myself feel better. If you’re not going to come to God with a complete open heart to follow whatever decision He has for you then its best not to come at all. It’s a greater insult to come to God about a decision and you already have made up in your heart what decision you’re going to make, than to not come to God at all.

It’s okay to have a decision that you want and come to God about it if you have an open heart to follow God if he gives you an opposite answer. If you are afraid that God will tell you no to a question that you already said yes to in your heart, then that’s probably God answering your question before you even ask.

If you want a new car and you’re reluctant to ask God about it because you’re afraid that he’ll say no, then think about why you think God will tell you no. Is it because you only want a new car because you seen your neighbor with a new car? Is it because you can’t afford a new car right now? Or, it might be for a reason that you can’t see like God wants you to wait for a car that he will delivery to you that will be better than the one you want now.

I come to God with decisions that I don’t know. I prayed to God before getting married because marriage is a big deal. Marriage is not an easy fix if you make the wrong decision. I can know that I’m in love, I can do premarital counseling, and the whole nine-yards, but I can’t predict how a marriage will be so that is something to pray about.

When me and my wife ate at IHOP today I didn’t pray about that. I feel like that’s a decision that God gave me the sound judgement to make on my own. When I woke up this morning, I thought about the food we have to eat for breakfast. I didn’t want a bagel. I didn’t want to eat the cereal because we don’t have the milk I like. I knew that I could afford to eat at IHOP and it wouldn’t hinder any financial plans, so I asked my wife if she wanted to go and we went.

I feel like God also speaks to us when we don’t pray about things. The other day I shopped online at Banana Republic because they had a 40% off everything sale. I had like $200 worth of clothes in my cart. Before I entered my credit card I even thought about what God would say if I prayed about this and I feel like God answered me before I even had to.

1. I already got enough money on my BR card that I need to pay down.
2. I didn’t need any of those items in the cart. And there is nothing wrong with buying clothes we want sometimes but I didn’t even have a strong want for those clothes. They were just cool looking clothes on discount.
3. If I did buy the clothes would they make me happier than I am now? Would they bring any fulfillment and joy to my life? Maybe when I initial open the bags in the mail, and the first time wearing the clothes, but other than that it wouldn’t do anything great in my life.

So I deleted all the clothes in my cart and the feeling of not buying the clothes is better than if I did.

I also believe that God doesn’t answer all our questions. I believe that sometimes God will support us regardless of the decision that we make. Maybe God wouldn’t tell you to get married or not. He gave you all the knowledge and tools to know whether it is a good decision for you or not. But God will be there with you whether you choose to get married or not to get married. The decision to get married can be as good for you as the decision to not get married.