In times of war, soldiers stare death in the face on a daily basis. Soldiers tend to pray a lot. In times of danger, crisis, insecurity or sickness, prayer comes instinctively to us humans. Trouble and tragedy soon teach us that we are not self-sufficient. There are times in most people's lives when the urge to pray is overwhelming. It has been said; "There are no atheists in a falling plane."
Some people decide they don't need to pray
Some people have given up praying and seem to get along quite well without it and eventually come to the point where they do not appear to need it at all. They have convinced themselves they don't need to pray. But when disaster or trouble comes and they don't have the resources to cope, a common response is to pray.
Who or what should we worship?
Every person worships someone or something. For the teenager it may be their rock star, the young man his V8 car and for the businessman it may be his dollar profit. Paul the Apostle was reported to have said; "Man-made gods are no gods at all" (Acts 19:26). How true is it! "For it is in God that we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). It is God who rightly deserves our worship. He created us, reaches out to us, loves us beyond our understanding, gives us eternal life and it is before God that we all must stand when we die. Saint Augustine puts it beautifully "You made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You." 1
God is reachable
God is accessible to us. Epititus was a Greek philosopher, yet he said; "When you have gone into your room, and shut the door, you are not alone. God is there." 2 Even when talking to Greeks who did not know the true God but worshipped idols, Paul the Apostle said, "God is not far from each one of us." (Acts 17:17).
Prayer is a privilege and a noble pursuit
Christians can come right into God's presence because of what Jesus did. "Since we have a great high priest, Jesus the Son of God who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, let us approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:14-16). Our Heavenly Father wishes to be everybody's loving friend, a purifying power in daily life, and the one whose moral purpose restrains us and whose love changes us into the people He wants us to be. God is overflowing with grace, kindness and goodness but nevertheless, many of us are missing out because we do not take full advantage of prayer.
Prayer - essential to a good relationship with God
If you allow prayer to remain a casual impulse, it can become nothing but a selfish, occasional and quite likely unanswered cry of need. Imagine if the only time your friend spoke to you was when they were in trouble? Would your relationship flourish? Would this occasional communication from your friend bring about a joyful, powerful and strong relationship?
Prayer should flow freely from the hearts of God's children as an outward expression of their love for God. It is a spiritual shame to neglect this privilege that God has given us to develop our relationship with Him. Prayer connects us with God and through it our deepest needs can be met.
Our prayers must change from "give me" to "change me"
It seems easier for most of us to try and do something else rather than pray. But neglecting prayer simply leads to spiritual shallowness and a failure to move along the road to spiritual maturity. It is childish to regard prayer as making requests to a spiritual Santa Claus. Childishness in prayer occurs when we continually beg things from God without desiring above all else the friendship of God Himself. What we should be trying to do is to grow into a mature relationship with God. As a child matures, they go beyond desiring things from parents, into loving them for their own sake. We make a great leap forward when we see beyond our idea of God as the provider of what we want and we look to Him as the source of life-changing love and power. It is then the road opens up and we really travel. Our sincerity is met by His perfect righteousness and love. We shouldn't value God simply for what He gives, but rather start loving Him for who He is and desire to be made more like Him. Our prayer must change from "give me" to "change me".
Why should we pray?
It is God's will for us to pray! "Be joyful; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for that is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16).
Jesus prayed! Jesus prayed for his disciples saying "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one" (John 17:15).
Jesus tells us that we should pray! Jesus says that we should "pray for those who persecute us" (Matthew 15:44). "Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should pray and not give up" (Luke 18:1).
It helps defeat evil powers! When the disciples couldn't drive out a demon they asked Jesus why. Jesus replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer" (Mark 9:29).
When we pray, miracles happen! A group of the early Christians prayed to God saying "Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus" … "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly" (Acts 4:30, 31). "The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well" (James 5:15).
Prayer can lift us into the halls of highest human happiness.
Prayer can bring about unlimited possibilities, which are waiting to be possessed.
PRAYER
Father, your Word says, that if I ask anything in Jesus name, you will hear and answer me. In Jesus' name, please help me to come to a place where I long to commune with you, not because of what you can give me, but because you are my loving Heavenly Father.
1 The Confessions of Saint Augustine, Whitaker House, USA, 1996, p11. 2 The Meaning of Prayer by Harry Emerson Fosdick, Association Press, 1915.
