Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for
you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV
Prayer is
vital to the Christian. It, along with
Scripture reading, is our bread and butter.
Prayer for the believer is to be ongoing. At times, it is mournful when the Holy Spirit
shows us our sin or the sin of another - for the purpose of intercession, but
it is also joyful – like a dance.
When we ask God for our needs to be met, our plea must be enveloped in thanksgiving. Expectancy should accompany our faith-filled
prayers.
But prayer
is more than just asking; it is being.
Prayer is a relationship with our God.
He desires to speak to us and show us things in the Spirit so we can
better know and serve Him. He wants to
heal us, restore us, comfort us, and discipline us. His discipline comes from a heart of love so
that we can grow.
Prayer also
is to be rooted in God’s word. Jesus is
the way, the truth, and the life. Truth in
the Scriptures comes from The Truth (Jesus).
When we meditate on God’s word, we are practicing an essential type of
prayer, and we are getting to know the Author of the word better and better.
When faced
with the command to pray without ceasing, one can become overwhelmed at the
idea. I have found that when I start my
day in prayer and Bible reading, it becomes more natural for me to live in an
attitude of prayer throughout the day.
When I fall, I ask for the Lord’s forgiveness, and then I walk on.
As long as
we live, we will be learning in this Christian journey.
Let’s choose to incorporate prayer into our
daily lives. We will find that our
intimacy with Him will grow into something we relish all the day long.
