Are you ready to jump out of the boat?

You know some times I think that the Apostle Peter gets a bum rap.  How often do pastors (me included) preach messages on how Peter sank when he was walking on water?  And yeah, there is a valid message in that, but how many times have I even walked on water?  Last time I checked I never have (unless you include when I just started dating Jennie, but even she realized that wasn’t true once we got married.)  But I was thinking of the story and realized an exciting truth about prayer in this passage.  Peter didn’t jump out of the boat the moment that he saw Jesus.  First he said, “Lord, if it is you tell me to come to you on the water.” (From Matthew 14:28)  He waited for Jesus’ command.  Maybe first, I need to listen to God more before I start jumping out of boats.  And secondly, maybe in my prayer times I need to take more time to ask him to speak to me.