Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?

– Psalm 27:1 NIV

My husband and I stood outside just before 7 a.m. and watched as the sun rose over the east sky, turning darkness into light. We both agreed we think early morning is the best part of the day. We listened for the birds that sang their morning song, one after the other. The hummingbirds’ wings fluttered from flower to feeder and back again many times. A breeze rustled the trees that were heavy with dew. The grey sky turned fiery orange when the sun emerged and then it was done … another day had come.

With a new day comes hope and renewal. But some must carry burdens day after day and it is hard to stay hopeful. Just in my own circle of family and friends I hear of tragedies, crisis and more. Daily prayer is the key to coping with these situations. Asking God for daily protection, wisdom, courage and grace will give us supernatural strength from Him to be able to put one foot in front of the other. What can we do when it isn’t our business to step into a situation and take charge? That is where prayer comes in again. When we are powerless to intervene, we know the One who can … God can be asked to step in and stand in the gap for us or someone else. So whatever we face in life, prayer is the answer.

It seems trite to say that for we think almost everyone knows that, but surprisingly, not so. I visualize God just standing there in the shadows, waiting for us to pray and give him our concerns and burdens. He can handle it. It is just that we are so busy trying to fix and handle problems on our own, we forget to hand it over to Him.

My son’s car broke down. His budget just didn’t allow for a lot of car repairs this month. On his own will he started to diagnose the problem and part by part, he began to replace what he thought the problem was. All weekend he labored and spent money he couldn’t afford to spare. I kept saying to him to pray about it. While sitting in church on Sunday, I asked God to shine a heavenly flashlight on the car problem to illuminate it and let my son have the eyes to see it. That afternoon he called to say it wasn’t the ignition after all, but a fuel problem. While I don’t understand “car talk,” I do understand “prayer talk.” We know that a car will start but not on its own. There must first be a key that is put in the ignition and then it will start. That much I do know.

Doesn’t our prayer act as the key in the ignition which invites and engages God to come take over? God doesn’t always answer every prayer the way we would like it answered or even on our own time, but we do know He hears us. He lights our way.

Betsy Ore Glass has long-standing ties to the Outer Banks. From Virginia Beach, her family bought a vacation cottage in the 60s and her love of the area began. Later in the 90s, Betsy and her husband bought a weekend cottage and introduced the area to their children. Then Betsy’s parents retired to KDH where the family gathered often. Reach her at betsyglass1@gmail.com. To learn more about her new book, Reflections by the Sea, visit betsyoreglass.com.

READ ABOUT NEWS AND EVENTS HERE.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE COASTLAND TIMES TODAY!