Matthew 7:7-8 (Amp) - Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.

Prayer is a spiritual discipline that is difficult for even the most devout Christian to practice on a truly consistent basis.

Matthew 26:40(Amp) – And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, What! Are you so utterly unable to stay awake and keep watch with Me for one hour?

It demands time, discipline and it requires focus which can be hard for our modern minds and lifestyles to incorporate.

Prayer tries our patience. We dislike waiting on God’s answers. So, we try manipulate our situation by coming up with our own quick fix answers.

Prayer becomes a luxury and not a disciplined necessity. It’s way down on our priority list. We only use it when we really need it!

Did Paul need to pray I mean he was in Contact all the time think about it:

With Paul’s life as a self-sufficient, highly competent, well educated, awesome leader and great teacher, a man’s man who could stand before great Greek philosophers in Athens and debate with the best of them, speak to kings and governors and leave them amazed.

Paul as a Strong Natural Leader understood something so powerful.

That is: The absolute importance of his prayer life

Paul recognized that his effectiveness and usefulness to God was in direct proportion to his dependence on and prayer life to God.

That is why prayer is such a vital key to a have a life of impact.

Show me “One who prays consistently” and I’ll show you “One who makes a difference”.

Prayer is talking to God.

Communication is a two-way street. It requires active participation by two people.In the case of God and His people, He communicates to us through His word and we respond to Him in prayer.

This is a very good reason why so many Christians are so reluctant to pray.

They have nothing much to say because they haven’t listened to what God has said to them in His word. OR…

they have issues they aren’t willing to deal with – areas of sin, dis-obedience and compromise.

It’s because meeting with God through His word, they know it will point out the thoughts, intentions, and purposes of their lives.

Hebrews 4:12 (Amp) - For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

Prayer is an act of faith.

When you pray to God, you are talking to someone you can’t see, but someone who is tangible as:

Romans 1:20 says, “For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification],

Or from the revelation truths of God in the bible.

Prayer is the purest form of faith which as Hebrews 11:1 says “being sure of what we hope for and certain for what we do not see”.

Prayer is not wishful thinking, but based on the promises of God which is found in His word.

Prayer is a privilege.

We have access to the God of the universe – to the King of Kings.

Hebrews 4:16 (Amp) - Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

God wants to hear from us and share our joys and our problems. In fact, God is always available and ready to hear from us.

He asks us to ASK. Keep in mind that your request must be:

In FAITH,

Matthew 21:22 (Amp) - And whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really] believing, you will receive.

Without selfish motives.

James 4:2b (Amp) - You don’t have because you do not ask.James 4:3 (NIV) - When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

According to the will of God.

1 John 5:14-15 (Amp) - And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.

THE PROBLEM WITH PRAYER

Why don’t Christians pray more often? Think about this…..

Have a social ‘cake and tea’ or a ‘braai’ and the house is full. Have a prayer meeting and the house is empty.

Here is a list of reasons why…

WorldlinessWe live in a world where there is no voice demanding us to pray the world out there don’t call you to pray.Prayer is a spiritual exercise. We must take the initiative to be spiritually minded, not worldly minded.We become so worldly minded that we become spiritually no good.

Busy-nessWe think we are so busy that we don’t make time to pray.

And yet we are never too busy to sit for hours and watch TV or make time for pleasures and social activities.Hit the snooze button! Yet, isn’t prayer, time spent with God, the most important discipline in our lives?

DistanceWhen we fail to pray, we’ll end up feeling distant from God and that, in turn, makes us even more reluctant to pray!In truth, God is never distant. He is always close by.He hasn’t moved, changed or lost interest in you.The more you talk to God, the more you’ll experience how near He actually is.

IgnoranceIf we don’t pray and read our Bibles, we won’t understand God’s power and goodness.

We won’t grasp thing like: -Ephesians 3:20 (Amp) - Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]

If we knew God better, we would make time to pray.

SinfulnessSin builds barriers between us and a caring God. When you are:

Prayer-full – Sin Less

Sin-Full – Prayer-less.

Psalm 66:18 (Amp) - If I regard iniquity (SIN) in my heart the Lord will not hear me.

Psalm 34:15 (NIV) - The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;

Active sin in your life will drastically affect your prayer life.

Prideful ness

In essence is saying “I don’t need to pray; I can take care of myself”. You may not say it but your behaviour will speak volumes.

Think about this: The self-sufficient, do not pray.The self-satisfied, will not prayThe self-righteous, cannot pray.

May pride never be your reason for not praying.

InexperienceWe don’t pray, therefore we don’t know how to pray so we don’t pray.

Praying is a disciplined skill. The more we pray the more answers to prayer we experience the more we see God answer prayer the more we will pray!

LazinessThis is the saddest excuse of all. We are just not willing to make the time and effort to pray – even if we know how important it is.

Sadly, many Christians fall under this category. You’re only as strong and influential as your prayer life.

If you’re like me, you know when you aren’t praying like you should.

Psalm 5:1-4 (Amp) – Listen to my words, O Lord, give heed to my sighing and groaning. Hear the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to You do I pray. In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I prepare [a prayer, a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart]. For You are not a God Who takes pleasure in wickedness; neither will the evil [man] so much as dwell [temporarily] with You.

Let’s trust God through His precious Holy Spirit to ignite a fresh passion for prayer in our hearts.

Rate