Hear, Pray, Act

 

This is a little rule of thumb for what a Christian may want to be doing at any given time:

Hear, Pray, Act

First and foremost, Hear. We are justified by faith, apart from works of the law. And faith comes from... hearing! And hearing through the word of Christ. 

Our salvation comes neither through prayer, nor through action, but through passive reception of Christ's word: hearing. Now it still takes time and effort to hear, but this occurs in the same way that it takes time and effort to eat. You consume food but you do not make the boast, "Behold, Oh Lord: I have eaten!" Rather, you eat because you are not a fool, and recognize that without food, your body will starve. Likewise, your soul will starve (and eventually your body with it) if you deprive yourself of Christ, the bread of life. So our first task as Christians is not really a task at all, but rather a gift: Hear.

Second, Pray. Because Jesus is your Lord, call upon him in prayer and praise, lament and thanksgiving. Look to him for all good things, as the Second Commandment bids you to do. The natural response to hearing the word of God is prayer. The word of God in our ears teaches us to call upon him with our hearts.

The Lord's Prayer, the Psalms, and other prayers of Scripture represent a beautiful intersection between hearing and praying. We are blessed to be able to respond to God's word with more of his word, shaped into prayers that echo back through the centuries. In the Psalter, we have words for all times of life, words of law and promise, words of repentance and joy, the words and prayers of Christ himself.

Third, Act. Having been saved by grace alone, we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, that we should walk in them. The rest of the time that isn't spend hearing or praying (or perhaps while you hear and pray) is time for action! A Christian fears God and turns away from evil, loves his neighbor, honors his parents, works diligently, etc. 

And this Action necessarily directs him back to Hearing the word of forgiveness after another day struggling against the things he does not want to do, but keeps on doing. He responds to this word with Prayer, and then proceeds again to Act.

You might suppose a fourth category of Rest would be fitting here, but how does our Lord bid us rest? Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. We find our rest first and foremost in hearing Christ, the word made flesh, and by laying our burdens on him in prayer. We can rest with a clear conscience as God himself did. We can take days off, take weeks off, take vacations, etc. But Christ invites us to rest in the word of God and prayer, not apart from them.

It should also be noted that neither internet browsing binges, nor endless "planning" to avoid a task, nor mindless snacking until food becomes revolting, have any place in this way of life.

Hear, Pray, Act

There's a good way for a Christian to spend his days.