Prayer

First and plainly obvious to all, God commands us to pray (Ephesians 6:19, 20, 1Thessalonians 5:17, and many other passages). Prayer is so basic to the Christian, that it is difficult to imagine a prayerless believer. Prayer is the clear demonstration of faith and dependence upon God. A life with little prayer demonstrates a life of fleshly independence from God. The prophet Samuel made it clear that failure to pray for His people was to sin against God (1 Samuel 12:23)! So close are true faith and prayer connected, that when the Lord was speaking from Heaven to Ananias that Saul of Tarsus had turned from his bloody persecution of the church to become a follower of Jesus, the Lord simply says, "Get up and go to him…for he is praying." (Acts 9:11) Prayer is the basic expression of faith for a Christian.

Prayer transforms the believer. Healthy prayer deepens our perception of the majesty, authority, and grace of the Lord. There is a mystical joining that takes place in prayer that transmits God's wisdom (Proverbs 3:5, Colossians 1:9). Prayer moves God to act (John 14:13-16). Prayer is the channel that allows us to unload our stress to Him (1 Peter 5:6, 7). It is the door that we confidently pass through when we have failed and need His merciful grace (Hebrews 4:16). Prayer is what David was talking about when he described the green pastures and quiet waters that restore our souls. Prayer is much more about how we are changed in His presence, than about having requests filled.

Jim Cymbala, Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle once said, "Every ministry of your church should be measured by how they move people to pray." He is right. If a church is successful in molding disciples, then they will be people of prayer. Scripture drives us to pray over the wisdom and direction of God revealed in them. Worship leads us into His presence with praise and thanksgiving. Generosity concerns us to pray that our gifts will result in God's glory and kingdom being furthered. Fasting is never seen in Scripture apart from prayer, because it is a deliberate act of self denial to cause the believer to deeply recognize our total dependence upon His care. The Bible is a book filled with prayer and produced as a result of prayer. The fathers of the Old Testament were men of prayer, the prophets of old wrote their magnificent revelations, and punctuated them with written prayers over and over. Jesus just assumed that His followers would pray. He simply said, "When you pray, pray in this way…" "When you pray, do not pray as the hypocrites pray with their many words…" Jesus and the Apostles modeled prayer; both spent large amounts of time in prayer.

What is prayer? Prayer is talking to God, but the conversation is all about trusting Him. When there is worship to be spoken, we speak honest praise to Him. He doesn't want our flattery. When thanksgiving is to be returned to Him, we recognize Who gave freely to us. When we speak with Him of doubts, we can voice all of our doubts or questions, while remembering that He is above the fray of life and His perspective is correct even when important things of life are hard to understand. Prayer is also listening to God. Prayer is saturating our minds with His word and recalling that truth in His presence. His Spirit opens our eyes to the depth of what He has said in Scripture. Paul prayed Scripture and the prophets of old prayed Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Ephesians 6:18 "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…"