Prayer is the breath of the soul. Without breathing the physical body can only last a short time before it declines toward death. The same happens with spiritual life, a constant refreshing breath is needed for the soul to have its spiritual life maintained.
When we pray we talk to God as to a friend. He invites us to cast all our cares upon Him, for He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). Nothing is too big or too small for Him to take notice. Whatever brings us anxiety or pain, He is ready to listen and respond to our prayers of faith. He is also overjoyed when we talk to Him of our many blessings of life.
Prayer is the main avenue of communication between us and God. By praying to God, in Jesus name, we put into action trust and faith in Him; to answer according to his will. Prayer does not bring God down to us but lifts us up to Him. Our minds become drawn to him and it conditions us to become more like him. God desires to restore us to His own image, to have us reflect His perfect character of love. As we behold Jesus we become like Him. As we talk with God our thoughts and desires change; bad habits are overcome, addictions melt away, and we become patient, gentle and loving.
God tells us to be persistent in our prayers.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
This invitation to ask, seek and knock calls us to do so continually. God does not grow tired of our prayers, and as we approach Him persistently and earnestly He brings our thoughts and desires into harmony with Him.
God does not always answer our prayers in the way we expect. There are two conditions to God answering our prayer: we must pray according to God’s will, and we must believe that God hears us.
“And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Matthew 21:22
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” 1 John 5:14
God promises us that He always works all things together for good to them that love Him (Romans 8:28), so when God is not answering our prayer in the way we expect it is usually because we are asking for the wrong thing or God has something better in mind. At times we can be selfish in prayer and these prayers God will not grant. Many Christians today follow a ‘prosperity gospel’ with the expectation that if they believe in God He will make them wealthy and give them all the material desires they could want. Materialism often destroys our faith and turns our thoughts away from God towards self; God will not answer prayers with such selfish intentions. Jesus lived the life of a poor man, the Father provided for His basic needs but nothing more. God promises to supply all our basic needs, and this prayer we can claim when we find ourselves in difficulty. We can trust that if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness that He will faithfully provide for our basic necessities (Matthew 6:33).
The Bible is full of promises and God will honour every promise He has made. God promises us victory over our sins and addictions (John 8:34-36), forgiveness for all our wrongs (1 John 1:9), to provide for our basic needs, to give us His Holy Spirit to be our comforter and guide (John 16:7, 13), and to give us love, joy and peace in our heart (Galatians 5:22) among many other wonderful things. Prayer must be connected with a study of the Bible so that we can understand God’s will for us and claim the promises that it contains.
Remember that prayer should be a reverent conversation with our Creator. The third commandment says do not take the Lord’s name in vain. Hence praying to God and calling upon his name in a solemn manner is taken seriously by Him that knows our every thought. God invites us to call Him Father, and such is the relationship that He enjoys with us, but let us not forget that He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. As such we should approach Him reverently and respectfully.
Without prayer, a vital connection with God is being denied and we cannot sustain a proper relationship with Him nor have victory over the difficulties in our life. It is only by approaching the throne of grace that we can obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
People often say you can be a good person without God, however, if God alone is to be trusted on this issue, he says; The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) Since the human race fell into sin, it has been in our very nature to work in opposition to God and naturally agree with many of Satan’s suggestions. If God had not placed enmity between Satan and our race we would be completely under his control (Genesis 3:15). The human heart without a connection to God is exceedingly wicked and tends to that downward slide very quickly. Satan is always quick to distract, amuse, tempt and keep the mind occupied so that we might forget God and make excuses not to pray and breathe new breath into the soul. Such a situation can only lead one way no matter how good we think our character is and how resistant we think we are to evil thoughts and habits. A constant refocus and reorientation for our souls is needed and God gives us a practical way of doing so through prayer.
The Bible says “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). This means to keep God in your thoughts enough to take time when you see an opportunity to ask for help or give thanks and appreciation for what has been given to you. Even a short prayer throughout a busy workday lifts the soul and elevates thoughts toward him that cares about our every need.
The Bible gives us the practical example of setting aside dedicated time for prayer morning, noon and night (Psalms 55:17 and Daniel 6:10). Just as we often have a meal three times a day to maintain our physical strength, special time should be taken with God to maintain our spiritual strength and keep our heart focused on Him.
When Jesus walked the earth, He taught his disciples how to pray as an example to us; acknowledge God and give Him thanks, present your daily needs, ask for forgiveness and a forgiving spirit, claim the power for victory over all temptation, and ask for God’s will to be carried out in your life and the life of others (Matthew 6:9-13). Jesus gives us total assurance that our prayers are heard by God himself.
Isaiah 44:3 says “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” God is willing to pour out practical blessings as we ask.
Many think that they cannot approach God if their life is a mess and they have done things that make them feel unworthy of His help. This is untrue. Satan would have us feel that God is disinterested in us and that we are unworthy to approach Him in prayer, however, Jesus calls us all to come to Him when we are feeling overwhelmed or weighed down by guilt and despair (Matthew 11:28).
"When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Mark 2:17.
"The gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Romans 11:29). God knows that it is only as we connect with Him that we can find the strength to fix the problems in our lives and overcome the many challenges we are faced with. None are too soul-sick to come to Jesus. Trust in Him and He will take care of your every need.
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