What is your default mode?

This question could honestly be answered in a number of ways, depending on the context. We all default to different things given different situations. Your default mode at work might be perfectionism, driving you to be a workaholic. Your default mode at home might be “couch potato,” shutting your brain off and soaking up the tube. Your default mode in relationships might be people-pleasing, always trying to keep everyone else happy. And maybe not. Perhaps your default modes are a bit healthier than mine, or at least what they used to be. Either way, I want to pose this question to you today to get you thinking a bit deeper about your faith.

When it comes to being a Christ-follower, what is your default mode?

When crisis hits your life, your marriage, your home, do you default to prayer or anxiety? Better yet, when things are going well, when the good times are rolling, when all seems right in your world, do you still default to prayer because being found on your knees is your comfort zone? Think about it. Does God desire to function as a personal 911 operator in our lives, or does He long for daily communication from us as His children? What is your default mode?

When you’re faced with a big decision, do you default to asking everyone under the sun what they would do, or do you default to the wisdom and counsel found in God’s Word? Does it even cross your mind to search out His truth first, or do you elevate the wisdom and knowledge of man over His? What is your default mode? Better yet, in the daily, seemingly mundane decisions in life, do you consult God’s Word, desiring to walk in wisdom, or do you default to determining your own course, presuming that you are the one who controls the small stuff anyway? What is your default mode?

I found myself in the pages of the book of Daniel today, and although I’ve spent an immeasurable amount of time in this book of the Bible before, I came across something I had missed in times past. Daniel 6:10 records that in spite of the decree that King Darius had just made, forbidding prayer to anyone or any god other than himself, Daniel immediately went to prayer to the One true God for all to see. In the past, I always just chalked that one up to Daniel being some kind of Super Christian, the kind who only knows courage and never fear. This is simply not the case, though. Daniel was painfully human just as you and I are. He fell prey to the same temptations that you and I face. He was probably more afraid than we have ever been in our lives, facing the very real threat of death by lions. However, Daniel’s default was prayer.

You see, Daniel’s entire life had been spent in faithful pursuit of God, and he wasn’t about to compromise that now. He had learned the practice of being found on his knees, in the good and the bad, so this was really no different. He chose prayer because that is what he always did. This was his default mode.

Can we say the same for ourselves? Do we default to prayer, or is it merely our lifeline when we find ourselves in crisis? Jesus desires our whole heart, not just a part. When we only run to God in times of need, He is nothing more to us than a genie in a bottle. God wants us to learn the practice of being found on our knees when the sun is shining and when the rain is pouring down. Why?

Because He always deserves our attention, affection, esteem, and praise. Always. So let’s give it to Him.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6