A Warrior’s Devotional Life – Prayer
“Never stop praying.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT)
“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
If you type the word “prayer” in Google, you come up with almost 89 million different hits on the web. Everything from songs to articles, movies to websites, the Web offers a ton of information on this concept of prayer. But is the Church still even interested in it?
Currently in the Church
Prayer in most parts of the Body is simply dull, dry, and boring. Now I’m not saying you have to go to the extreme with zeal and sensationalism nor should you go to the extreme with dullness. Imagine the Lords Prayer said in the most dull and boring of manners. Now imagine it said with hype and sensationalism. How you say it isn’t the point, but we’ll get to that later.
Most church’s say a prayer before service starts, before a meeting starts, and especially before offering is taken up! (Please God let there be money the Pastor is inwardly praying…) But most “Christians” get tired of praying after 5 or 10 minutes. That’s a far cry from 1 Thessalonians! Prayer meetings are virtually non-existent at this point. I even know of some so-called pastors who don’t pray at all! One told me that since God was all-knowing, then he shouldn’t have to tell the Father what he needs!
Prayer as it’s Supposed to Be
R.A. Torrey, “Prayer can do anything that God can do…” And God can do anything and everything! Why wouldn’t we be praying? Saint Augustine said that prayer is the occupation of the soul.
Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
When we desire to have a group that is part of His Church and after His Purpose, then prayer must be at the heart and core of us. We cannot function without prayer. For a Follower of Christ not to pray is like having a computer programmer who refuses to use a computer in their job. Our prayers must not be just an obligation or a thing to get through.
Take a look at the Acts Body of Believers. Prayer is addressed more often than any other activity or subject with those chapters.
§ 1:14, “they all joined together constantly in prayer.”
§ 1:24 “they prayed” before choosing one to replace Judas
§ 4:24 “they raised their voices together in prayer to God”
§ 12:12 “many people had gathered and were praying” for Paul in jail.
§ 13:3 “after they had fasted and prayed” they sent leaders to work
§ 14:23 “with prayer and fasting” they appointed new leaders
The daily planner for the early Church established prayer first! When we do not desire prayer, we do not desire Christ in our mist, or in His Church, or in our lives. So our call is to proclaim the Gospel and further His Kingdom and the primary work of it is prayer. Prayer will enable us to be transformed to do the task that we cannot possibly do on our own or collectively as a church. We do not have the strength, knowledge, or ability to do squat for our Lord, but through prayer, we can do all things that He is willing for us to do, beyond our imagination!
Prayer is the key to start the power engine of God that enables us to do His work, the key that empowers us with His presence to proceed in His will and His plan. So what we are doing is activating God’s power for our lives and ministry that we do not have by ourselves!
Prayer is the instrument and means that God has chosen to communicate and direct His will in our lives. Prayer must be a priority in the church, in the leaders, and in the individual Christians daily planner. Yes, God will accomplish His means without our prayers and devotion, but where does that leave us? Bankrupt and useless! How can we be the people of God without getting direction to do the work of our God? We cannot!
God is acting through our prayers with Him and with each other. God works through us, we are His tools, we are the plungers and He is the plumber, and the world is a leaking toilet. Our plumber chooses us! God can choose whatever tool He wishes, He does not need to use us, but He chooses too. This is the incredible beauty of our relationship with Christ.
PRAYER IS A MUST! A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST AND A BODY OF BELIEVERS CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT IT!
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