Which Prayer Life Are You Living? A Spare Tire Prayer Life Or A Steering Wheel Prayer Life?

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" Corrie Ten Boom

 I think that, in our faith, we underestimate the power of prayer. Do we really know the overwhelming presence that it brings down to us? Are we able to comprehend what it can really do? Many of us don't know, because the problem is that so many people are missing out on the power of prayer because they are using it as their spare tire.
 So what exactly does spare tire prayer mean? Well, spare tire prayer is when you only pull out the prayer when you are in a bad situation, when you only pull it out to fix whatever the situation is that you are in, replacing your flat tire if you will, and then forgetting about it and moving on. That is what a spare tire prayer life looks like. Does it seem familiar to you? Are you living this type of prayer life today? If you are, do you know the kind of prayer that you are missing out on? Do you know that you are missing out on that one-on-one time with God? Where else are we able to get that here on this earth? Just you and Him, no one else.
 You see, in prayer, God already knows what you are going to ask for. So then why do we ask? We ask because, even though God already knows what it is that we want, that doesn't mean He's done it yet. I heard this quote once from preacher and author Mark Batterson. He said, "the greatest tragedy in life is that some prayers go unanswered as they go unasked." See, God isn't going to answer our prayers until we actually ask Him for them. And if you are living with a spare tire prayer life, then you are never going to experience all of the blessings that God has in store for you. But, if you start living a steering wheel prayer life, that is when you let you prayer guide you. That is when you let it direct you, where you hold on to it and use it, not just when times are tough, but all the time. If you start living that way, then you are going to see God work in your life in ways that you could never imagine. All that you have to do, is move out of that spare tire prayer life, and move into the steering wheel prayer life.