THE PRIVILEGE & POWER OF PRAYER

 “Pray all the time” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, The Message)
“Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit.” (Luke 18:1, The Message)

From our scriptures for this article we grasp the mind of God concerning how the prayer-life of a believer should look. The very valuable lesson here is that prayer ought to be a very ubiquitous activity in the true believer’s life. Pray all the time, pray consistently and never quit. It should be a natural instinct for us to call out “Abba, Father”!

Prayer is the privilege to draw near to the throne of God’s grace and confidently ask, seek, and knock. And it is powerful for through it we receive mercy and find grace in the time of need. In prayer we ask because there is a need, we seek because something lost needs to be found, and we knock with determined perseverance and importunity.

Unfortunately not many Christians realise the amazing privilege and power of prayer, and have been wont to treat it as nothing more than an intrusion in the normal course of their day. Such attitude is exemplified by a tendency to fit prayer into whatever time can be spared from their busy day, or alternatively completely dispense with it until a great personal need forces them to seek supernatural intervention. But a Christian-life without consistent prayer is anything but normal.

As a careful study of the word of God will reveal, it is God’s desire that prayer occupies a central and priority place in the lives of His children, and that through prayer we should cooperate with Him in seeking that His will be done on earth.

Through prayer we invite God into diverse situations in our lives and the lives of others, and cause the power of God to be released to touch lives and change things. God, as a caring and loving Father, wants His children to talk to Him about everything that is going on in their lives and around them all the time and not some of the time.

Our prayers are a means of unlocking the storehouse of spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Jesus taught His disciples to pray for “daily bread”, and I believe that this involves praying for every blessing and the help we need for each day in other to fulfil divine purpose. In light of such indispensability of prayer, therefore, and indeed its irresistibility, prayerlessness will doubtless limit God, for He will not move except we invite Him. If you don’t call how can He answer? (Jeremiah 33:3).

One final thought I must emphasize is this: Leading a prayerful life is not simply about praying for our personal needs. It is also about engaging in intercession, the selfless realm of prayer motivated not by love for self, but love for God and a desire to see His Kingdom come in full manifestation on earth, and love for others and a desire to see the will of God done in their lives as we desire to see them done in ours.

Pray all the time, pray consistently about everything, and never quit until you have assurance in heart of the answer.

May the grace of God abound to you as you endeavour to lead a prayerful life!

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This article is also featured on my column, The Potter’s Hand, at the Christian online community – Authentic Worship

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