02/08/2023

A reflection and prayer to start the day with George Craig, a Methodist local preacher in Cardiff.

Good morning.
I’m very lucky to live close to an old-fashioned hardware store. It’s a real asset to the community - crammed with fascinating stuff, and if I need a specific replacement for a screw, a bolt, a hinge an obscure bit of plumbing or an electrical fitting – it’ll be there.

But there is one small issue. For years, I’d go in every time determined to find what I want and proceed to rummage hopelessly around the shelves until eventually I had to give up and ask the owner - who knows exactly where everything is and would put his hand on it immediately.

I’ve learned. These days I just march up to the counter and ask – it saves an awful lot of time, and, I admit, a certain amount of embarrassment.

Why is it, I wonder, that we so often in our lives approach every situation determined that we’ll solve it ourselves. The popular joke that men will get hopelessly lost rather than ask for directions isn’t far from the truth about many areas of our lives.

And that includes prayer. In too many situations I don’t think I’m alone in rushing into prayer to ask God to bless my plans.

Simply asking Him to point me in the right direction is too often a last resort.

“Pray then plan” can be a really good strategy. Whether or not we hear a voice from heaven, every one of us can ask whether our plans reflect God’s values and treat our neighbours as we would want to be treated ourselves – the answers to those two would knock many of my less sensible plans on the head from the outset.

Father God, keep us from thinking that we always know best. Help us to recognise that getting help from someone wiser is true wisdom – especially when that person is you. Amen