The life of every Christ-follower is to be a life of prayer.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.” (Colossians 4:2) He also encouraged the Christians in Ephesus to, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” (Ephesians 6:18) Jesus taught on prayer consistently, gave us a model prayer to pray, and regularly engaged in prayer Himself. James, the brother of Jesus tells us in James 5:16 that, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”
We’ve been given all of this instruction and direction, yet we still struggle to pray. We are hit or miss…inconsistent at best. Perhaps we don’t know what to pray for. Maybe we don’t feel worthy. Maybe it’s because we are not sure that it really works. At times, it seems like it doesn’t really work…I mean haven’t you prayed for something that didn’t happen? Prayer can be complicated and feel like something for the more advanced in faith.
I do not have answers to all of these concerns. What I do have are reasons…reasons God has given me in His Word that explain why I should pray. Because of that fact, I do it!
I’m sure my prayers are imperfect and lacking. I know I am still an amateur when it comes to prayer, but here are the reasons I do it anyway.
There are three:
1. Prayer engages my heart.
The heart of Christianity is love. We are told to love God with our whole life and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are even told to love our enemies. What I have discovered is that prayer opens our lives to love.
The nature of prayer is to ask God to help another person and to do what is best for them. Prayer is a posture toward people. Essentially, prayer expands your capacity to love. This is how we become capable of loving our enemies. It is impossible to hate someone and pray for them simultaneously.
2. Prayer focuses my life on God’s will.
Prayer implies that we are reaching out to God. We are seeking His divine help and guidance for our lives and the lives of others. As we continue on that path for a while, we slowly begin to grow beyond requests for ourselves and others into discerning what God wants.
Jesus gave us this line to help, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9) Slowly, prayer will become a practice of aligning our will with the will of God.
3. Prayer raises the peace levels in my life.
The more I pray with faith, the more peace I have. Paul explained it this way in Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Peace is rest of soul, not the absence of problems. Prayer leads to peace because of faith. True prayer is the act of trusting God with difficult circumstances, believing that He is capable to handle whatever it is we have going on in our lives. As soon as we truly put things in His hands, His peace will flood our lives.
I am sure my prayer life needs work. I’m sure my motives need purified. I’m sure that I should be praying more often. Yet, I am not discouraged. I do not give up because prayer helps me to love, refocuses my will on His will, and brings peace into my life.
How about you? Do you struggle to pray? Perhaps you just need a few good reasons to start.
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