Is Prayer Your Spare Tire?

Corrie ten Boom experienced both fear and hope during World War II. During this terrible time, she discovered that prayer is a conversation with a living God who listens. She once asked: “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?”

Ouch. 😅 

When do we need a spare tire? When something goes wrong, when we have a flat tire and can’t move forward anymore.

Isn’t it crazy how often we “use” prayer in the exact same way?

As long as everything is going well, we manage our lives pretty well on our own. But then we receive some bad news, an unexpected bill, a disheartening diagnosis, or have an argument that hurts us. 

And suddenly, we start praying like champions. 🙏

Please don’t misunderstand me. That is exactly when we should pray. God is the first One we can—and should—turn to with our needs.

But He wants to be so much more than our “emergency contact.”

So the question for today is: Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?

A spare tire is used when something goes wrong. A steering wheel, on the other hand, determines where you’re going before anything goes wrong.

The spare tire rescues.The steering wheel guides.

This is where this well-known verse becomes clearer for us: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV) 

So what if you didn’t bring God into the conversation only when you no longer know what to do? What if you talked to Him even before making a decision?

“Father, should I really do this?” “How should I respond to this?”

Or even: 

“What would You like to do through me today?”

It’s not about praying longer—it’s about giving prayer a better place in your life. Not somewhere in the trunk for the next emergency. But right where it belongs: at the steering wheel of your life.

Prayer is not just for when you have a flat; it keeps you connected to God throughout the entire journey.

You are a miracle!