POEM: “We Pray Thee, Heavenly Father” by Vincent S. S. Coles

Our prayer motivator passage from the Word of God today is Psalm 32:6 which reads: “For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.”

Our featured prayer motivator quote is from Charles G. Finney. He said: “I have never known a person sweat blood; but I have known a person pray till the blood started from his nose. And I have known persons to pray till they were all wet with perspiration, in the coldest weather in winter. I have known persons pray for hours, till their strength was all exhausted with the agony of their minds. Such prayers prevailed with God.”

My personal encouragement for you today is this: Here are three benefits that I have personally received from prayer to God, and that I know you can receive as well. (1) Prayer to God will make money come to you when you need it most. (2) Prayer to God will make things happen for you, right in the nick of time. And (3) Prayer to God will give you a great night of sleep.

Our prayer motivator devotional today is titled “PRAYER IS ESSENTIAL TO GOD” part 4 from the book, “The Weapon of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds.

Prayer is an absolute necessity to the proper carrying on of God’s work. God has made it so. This must have been the principal reason why in the early Church, when the complaint that the widows of certain believers had been neglected in the daily administration of the Church’s benefactions, that the twelve called the disciples together, and told them to look out for seven men, “full of the Holy Ghost, and wisdom,” who they would appoint over that benevolent work, adding this important statement, “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.” They surely realized that the success of the Word and the progress of the Church were dependent in a preeminent sense upon their “giving themselves to prayer.” God could effectively work through them in proportion as they gave themselves fully to prayer.

The Apostles were as dependent upon prayer as other folks. Sacred work,—Church activities—may so engage and absorb us as to hinder praying, and when this is the case, evil results always follow. It is better to let the work go by default than to let the praying go by neglect. Whatever affects the intensity of our praying affects the value of our work. “Too busy to pray” is not only the keynote to backsliding, but it mars even the work done. Nothing is well done without prayer for the simple reason that it leaves God out of the account. It is so easy to be seduced by the good to the neglect of the best, until both the good and the best perish. How easily may men, even leaders in Zion, be led by the insidious wiles of Satan to cut short our praying in the interests of the work! How easy to neglect prayer or abbreviate our praying simply by the plea that we have Church work on our hands. Satan has effectively disarmed us when he can keep us too busy doing things to stop and pray.

“Give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word.” The Revised Version has it, “We will continue steadfastly in prayer.” The implication of the word used here means to be strong, steadfast, to be devoted to, to keep at it with constant care, to make a business out of it. We find the same word in Col. 4:12, and in Romans 12:12, which is translated, “Continuing instant in prayer.”