PRAYER! What is prayer? Prayer is simply talking to God; it is the primary way for us as believers to communicate our emotions and desires to God and YES, I said desires. Prayer is communication with God, a way to deepen, strengthen and build a relationship with our heavenly Father. It should be as comfortable and natural as any conversation you would have with a friend, family member, or another individual. Talk to God and He listens; God talks, and YOU listen – a two-way communication channel.
Prayer should not be used as a tool to negotiate with God; it should not only be used to ask God for things or make demands of God. It should NOT be used the same way the Pharisees did; which is to make others think you are more spiritual than you are.
Prayer is a mighty weapon each believer has in his or her arsenal – why not use it? There is no defense against it; Satan, our adversary, cannot stop our prayers. We can pray at any time and from anywhere. Prayer is communication between you and your father that no one needs to know you are having.
Sometimes we cannot do it alone and may need to call in the “armed forces”. There is power in numbers as one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight. Come into agreement with others when you pray as Matthew 18:19 gives us this assurance:
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
KJV
Prayer is very important and that is why you would see throughout the scriptures where Jesus withdrew from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and spent time alone communing with his father.
Luke 5:16
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Luke 5:16 NIV
Prayer is so important that Jesus took the time to teach us what and how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13, “The Lord’s Prayer”.
We are to follow his example where it says in Luke 6:12
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
NIV
Jesus prayed ALL night which reminds me of the acronym PUSH which is interpreted as Pray Until Something Happens. Be consistent, be persistent in your prayer life; pray without ceasing. Be radical, believe that the answer is on the way. Obey James 5:16 which admonishes us to:
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
KJV
The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective because it captures God’s attention. He listens and acts; yes, he responds to our prayers. Our father loves when we as his children come to him. He wants us to have an open relationship with him. He has provided the channel for us to be able to talk with him about any and everything. He loves us and desires the best for us. He likes to fellowship with us just as any earthly father wants to fellowship with his children.
Genius Wells, our former senior pastor of The Chapel on The Hill, will be remembered as a man of prayer; he prayed about EVERYTHING and believed in his heart “more prayer, more power”. Follow Genius Wells’ example and be remembered as a man or woman of prayer.
Pray and believe as there is nothing too hard for God. PRAY first, PRAY always as PRAYER changes things!