Edward Payson said, “Prayer is the first thing, the second
thing, the third thing necessary to a minister. Pray, then, my dear brother:
pray, pray, pray.”
Isaiah 55:6, Matthew 7:7-12 and Philippians 4:6 we read that
men are to pray – to pray for the advancement of God's kingdom, their lives and
their family.
People often ask, “Is prayer really necessary? Will my prayer
really make a difference? Does the sovereign, all powerful, all knowing, all
present God really need me to pray?”
E. M. Bounds said, “Prayer is the keynote of the most
sanctified life, of the holiest ministry.
He does the most for God who is the highest skilled in prayer. Jesus Christ exercised His ministry after
this order”.
The Word of God instructs us to pray, however, many
Christians do not see the importance of prayer simply because they lack
sufficient knowledge on the subject of prayer. Prayer puts God in full force in
the earth it releases Him to move in the earth on our behalf. To a prayerful
man God is always present in realized force; to a prayerful church God is truly
present in glorious power throughout the earth.
E. M. Bounds said “…It is only when the whole heart is
gripped with the passion of prayer that the life-giving fire descends, for none
but the earnest man gets access to the ear of God.”
Hebrews 11:33-40 “…Men of old who were strong in faith and in
prayer, subdued kingdoms, produced righteousness, obtained promises, stopped
the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword,
from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight the
armies of the aliens.”
Why can’t we be those men today? All we need is to be strong
in faith and strong in prayer.
What is Prayer
We see from Psalm 5:1-3; 19:14; Matthew 6:6 and Acts 10:1-2
that when we are praying we are communicating with God.
Robert Hall said, “…The prayer of faith is the only power in
the universe to which the great Jehovah yields. Prayer is the sovereign
remedy.”
There are two things that must be attended to in prayer (i)
That it be in every time, season, or opportunity; (ii) That it should be in or
through the Spirit – that the heart should be engaged in it, and that its
infirmities should be helped by the Holy Spirit.
Prayer must always be two ways
In Psalm 10:17 and 65:2 we read that God the Father hears us
when we speak. We read in Psalm 99:6-9 that Our Father not only hears our
prayers he actually answers those prayers. In Isaiah 58:9 we read that when we
call God will answer.
Prayer should be daily
Psalm 5:3 the psalmist says that he will lift up his voice in
the morning and God will hear him. Psalm 143:8 the psalmist encourages us to
not only speak to God in the morning but also to listen to him. Prayer should
flow from a desire within us to attain a new level of spiritual aptitude or
fellowship. Prayer should be daily fellowship with our heavenly Father
springing out of our love for him.
Prayer is a lifestyle
ifestyle consists of a choice we make to live a certain way.
We choose to love our wife, husband, and family etc. we need to choose to pray
daily.
Prayer should be without ceasing
Colossians 4:2 tells us to continue (the Greek means to continue
perseveringly) in prayer.
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