Powerful Prayer Begins Where Complacency Ends

Someone once said, “Complacency is a blight that saps energy, dulls attitudes, and causes a drain on the brain. The first symptom is satisfaction with things as they are. The second is rejection of things as they might be. ‘Good enough’ becomes today’s watchword and tomorrow’s standard. Complacency makes people fear the unknown, mistrust the untried, and abhor the new. Like water, complacent people follow the easiest course — downhill. They draw false strength from looking back” (Bits & Pieces, May 28, 1992, page 15).

In Amos 6:1 (AMP) the prophet declares, “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those on the mountain of Samaria who are careless and feel secure.” The children of Israel had grown apathetic in their prosperity and comfort. They had lost their sense of urgency and were not concerned about the things of God. But their perceived security was a myth. The mercy of God that held back disaster was stretched to the limit, and in Verse 7, God says the party is over! “Therefore, they will now go into exile at the head of the exiles, and the sprawlers’ banqueting will pass away” (NASB). Only after disaster had struck and the nation found itself in the chains of captivity did it turn to the Lord again.

God forbid that we should have to be shaken out of our complacency by tragedy or disaster. How much better it would be if we would remain vigilant in prayer, recognizing that even in the good times, “…your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8 KJV). Powerful prayer begins where complacency ends.