How Important Is Prayer To You?

How Important Is Prayer To You?


Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." 39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." 42He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." 43When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners (Matthew 26:36-45)

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15). He is Omnipresent and His desire is the best for us. He is Omniscient and He knows all that we need. He is Omnipotent and He is able to accomplish all of them.

Though the enemy will try to curse and harm us but he can not succeed because of God’s divine love that engulfs us (Deut. 23:5). However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you. Prayer done in faith will shield us from the fiery darts of the enemy.

I read this short tale by J.K Johnston about a small town that had historically been "dry," but then a local businessman decided to build a tavern. A group of Christians from a local church were concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. It just so happened that shortly thereafter lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground. The owner of the bar sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were responsible, but the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that they were not responsible. The presiding judge, after his initial review of the case, stated that "no matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in prayer and the Christians do not."

Doubt is one of the reasons why a prayer is not answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him (Mark 11:23). Therefore, trust in the Omnipotent God who is able to accomplish for us our desires if we believe by FAITH that He will answer our prayer and it will be done to us if asked in the name of Jesus Christ.
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (John 14:13-14).

We can pray anywhere -- in the bedroom; on the street; in the car; on the bus; in the subway; on the park; on the mountain, like Jesus did (Luke 22:39-40); in the cave, like David did (Psalm 142:1); on the cross, like the dying thief did (Luke 23:42); in the deep like Jonah did (Jonah 2).
We can also pray in any way whatever -- short, as the tax collector did (Luke 18:13); long, as Solomon did at the dedication of the Temple (2 Chronicles 6); silently, as Hannah did in the Temple (1 Samuel 1:13); aloud, as Bartimaeus did (Mark 10:48); in tears, as Mary Magdalene did (Luke 7:38); in groans as Jeremiah did (Lamentations 1:22); in songs, as David did (Psalm).

We can pray any how in any event.

We can pray for any need -- for lengthened life, as Hezekiah did (Isaiah 38:5); for forgiveness and mercy, as Daniel did (Daniel 9:18-19); for healing, as the woman who was bleeding for 12 years did (Matthew 9:21); for rain, as Elijah did (James 5:18); for a son, as Hannah did (1 Samuel 1:20); for grace, as Paul did in his Epistles.

We can pray at any time whether in the morning, at noon, at night, and of no age limit, whether a child, a youth, an adult or a senior. Even when we are out of words in our prayers and perhaps our prayers may sound confusing, but our God being Omniscient can easily find some sense in our confusing prayers, so keep on praying because prayer is important to God. Praying is doing the will of God as it is His command that we should pray continually (1 Thess. 5:17).