There are times when we know exactly what to do.
Then there are Red Sea moments.
You have thought about the problem from every angle. You have talked with people you trust. You have made your list of options, and none of them seems particularly good. You have reached the uncomfortable conclusion that you simply do not know what to do.
The Israelites knew that feeling. Pharaoh’s army was approaching from behind. The Red Sea was in front of them. There was no military strategy that could save them and no escape route they could take.
Exodus 14:10 tells us what happened next: “They were terrified and cried out to the LORD” (NIV).
That brings us to the fourth principle in Robert J. Morgan’s The Red Sea Rules and the fourth lesson in my Red Sea Rules question-based Bible study.
It may be the simplest rule of all:
Pray!
Trouble Has a Way of Improving Our Prayer Lives
It is interesting how quickly a crisis can change the way we pray.
When life is going well, prayer can become routine. We pray over meals. We work through our prayer list. We ask God to bless our family, church, and friends. There is nothing wrong with any of that.
Then Pharaoh shows up.
Suddenly prayer becomes different.
We don’t merely say prayers. We pray.
The Israelites “cried out to the LORD.” There was urgency in their praying because there was urgency in their situation. The Red Sea had stripped away the illusion that they could take care of themselves.
That can be one of the hidden gifts of difficult circumstances.
They remind us how much we need God.
Prayer Is an Admission of Dependence
We like to be competent.
We like problems we can solve. If something breaks, fix it. If we don’t know something, Google it. If we need directions, pull out the phone. If we have a financial problem, make a budget. If we have a work problem, develop a plan.
There is nothing wrong with competence. God gave us minds and expects us to use them.
But eventually we encounter problems that are bigger than our competence.
No spreadsheet can fix them. No amount of research provides an obvious answer. No five-step plan guarantees the outcome.
That is when prayer becomes especially important because prayer is an acknowledgment of reality.
“I need help.”
The Christian life was never intended to be lived independently of God. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NIV).
Prayer takes that truth seriously.
Prayer Should Be Our First Response, Not Our Last Resort
We sometimes say, “Well, I guess all we can do now is pray.”
Think about what we are saying.
We have made the phone calls. We have tried everything we know. We have asked everyone’s opinion. We have exhausted our resources. Nothing worked.
So now we are down to God.
Perhaps we should reverse the order.
Nehemiah provides a wonderful example. When King Artaxerxes asked him what he wanted, Nehemiah writes, “Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king” (Nehemiah 2:4–5 NIV).
That must have been a very short prayer. The king was standing right there waiting for an answer.
Nehemiah prayed and then spoke.
That is a wonderful habit to develop.
Before you make the call, pray.
Before you send the email, pray.
Before you walk into the meeting, pray.
Before you have the difficult conversation, pray.
Before you make the decision, pray.
Prayer doesn’t mean we do nothing. Prayer means we invite God into everything.
But Prayer Doesn’t Mean We Never Act
There is an interesting twist in the Red Sea story.
The Israelites cried out to God. Moses told them to stand firm and watch God deliver them. Then God said something unexpected to Moses:
“Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on” (Exodus 14:15 NIV).
There is a time to pray.
And there is a time to get moving.
This becomes especially important as the Red Sea Rules unfold. Prayer is Rule #4, but Rule #6 is, “When unsure, just take the next logical step by faith.”
Prayer is not a substitute for obedience.
Sometimes Christians keep asking God for guidance when God has already made the next step reasonably clear. We want another sign. Another confirmation. Another feeling. Another open door.
God may simply be saying, “Move on.”
Pray first.
Then be prepared to obey.
What Should We Pray in a Crisis?
Sometimes the hardest part of prayer is knowing what to say.
Perhaps we make prayer more complicated than it needs to be.
“Lord, help me.”
That is a prayer.
“Lord, give me wisdom.”
That is a prayer.
“Lord, I am afraid.”
That is a prayer.
“Lord, I don’t know what to do.”
That is a prayer.
“Lord, show me the next step.”
That is a prayer.
“Lord, Your will be done.”
That may be one of the greatest prayers we can ever pray.
We don’t have to explain the situation to God. He already knows where Pharaoh is. He knows how deep the water is. He knows how frightened we are. And, most importantly, He knows what He intends to do next.
God May Not Answer the Way You Expect
One reason prayer requires faith is that we don’t control the answer.
Israel needed deliverance. I doubt many Israelites were standing beside the Red Sea saying, “I have an idea. Why doesn’t God divide the sea, dry out the bottom, let a couple million people walk across, and then collapse the water on the Egyptian army?”
No one was expecting that.
They knew what they needed.
They didn’t know how God would provide it.
That distinction matters.
We often pray for a need and then tell God exactly how He should meet it. We need financial provision, so we identify where the money should come from. We need a job, so we decide which company should hire us. We need a relationship repaired, so we imagine exactly how the other person should change.
Perhaps mature prayer says, “Lord, here is what I need. I trust You with how.”
Later in this study we will come to another Red Sea Rule: Trust God to deliver in His own unique way.
The Israelites certainly discovered how unique God’s way could be.
Cry Out to the Lord
Maybe you are standing at a Red Sea today.
You have analyzed the situation enough. You have replayed the possibilities enough. You have worried enough.
Pray.
Tell God what you are afraid of. Tell Him what you need. Ask Him for wisdom. Ask Him for strength. Ask Him to show you the next step.
Then leave room for God to answer in a way you haven’t imagined.
The Red Sea story reminds us that sometimes we don’t need a better plan.
We need God.
Study Red Sea Rules With Your Group
This article is based on Lesson 4 of my Red Sea Rules: A Question-Based Bible Study Guide, a 10-session study based on Robert J. Morgan’s The Red Sea Rules and Exodus 14–15.
The study is designed to get people talking about Scripture and applying it to real life. Each session includes thought-provoking discussion questions, biblical teaching, practical application, and insights from respected Christian writers and teachers.
Red Sea Rules is available now on Amazon.
You can also learn more about the study and access it through Good Questions Have Groups Talking:
Next in the series: Sometimes the Most Spiritual Thing You Can Do Is Calm Down
