The Importance of Prayer
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:” (Matthew 7:24-28)
“So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:45-49)
Do we as Christians realize the importance of prayer in out every day life? Do we just pay lip service; lifting out hands as a sign of submission, saying “Halleluiah, praise to you almighty Father,” yet, not the prayer uttered from our lips rise up from deep in our soul, form our heart?
Are we standing before others only to acquire and receive “a title,” a position, get recognition, yet fail to put into action “the work of ministry?”
Without a foundation of prayer; private and communal, we will not “grow” in our relationship with Jesus. We need to spend time with Him, to get to know Him, to develop the character qualities we want for our lives as: husbands, wives, children, grandparents, parents, workers in the marketplace, and as productive Christians in society. Many of us want to pray, but for some reason we don’t pray, at least not with the frequency and intensity that we ought to pray.
If only we were to “come up out of our comfort zone” and take an honest assessment of the awful situations all around us; moved by prayer—we would “rise up,” and put into action our God given talents and abilities for the sake of the kingdom of God. God has a role for each of us to participate in, if only we’ll quiet our minds long enough, bend our knees and take time to discover the purpose and mission for our lives.
Those of us who claim to be “Christ –followers” have a challenge set before us;
Do what you can to right the wrongs of a broken world. How, you may ask? It all begins with prayer, whereby we empty ourselves, and open ourselves to receive the “marching orders” to shape a better world for those in dire need. What would this world, what would the community of Grand Forks, ND be like if every Christ-follower get serious about instilling solid prayer practices into their daily lives?
Can We Hear from God? What Do we Do with the Promptings of the Holy Spirit? If we do not act on the promptings we will find ourselves in a state of disobedience. Disobedience will cause more stress, or rather dis-stress than simply “doing the right thing” in the first place. We may try to rationalize our disobedient behaviors by saying, “I’m too tired, It has been a long week, I deserve to have some down time.”
What opportunities do we miss out on by our not obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit? When God tells us to:
- write to this person—to call that person—to go to that one’s home—to make an appointment with him/her—to assist in whatever means you can to help out (so and so) it does not have to make sense.
What we must be willing to do is ACT to the best of out ability and leave the rest to God. The question at hand: what are you going to do about the promptings you receive?
Who or what voice are you listening to:Who leads us to say harmful things, to be arrogant, to color the truth? Who prompts us to care less about service to others than about our own advancement and fulfillment?
Paul said to the Ephesians, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph 6:11-12).
The war is waged on the spiritual battlefields of our minds. It is possible, because of this spiritual war, that some of the notions that come into our heads have been authored in hell, not heaven. The way to respond to devilish promptings: by way of flight or to fight. Paul told Timothy, “Flee the evil desires of youth” (2 Tim 2:22). James said, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Three Ways to Verify that the promptings are from God:
1. All promptings that come from God are consistent with His Word, the Bible.
- A prompting to be unfaithful to your spouse is never a prompting from God.
- Neither is a prompting to cheat on an examination, to exaggerate or lie to a customer, to spread hurtful gossip, to deceive your parents or your children or to do anything else forbidden by Scripture.
2. God’s promptings are usually consistent with the person He made you to be. We need to ask ourselves: Does it make any sense that God would design me for one purpose and then ask me to fulfill another, that I am not equipped for? If you sense a prompting that seems contrary to who God made you to be; perhaps this is not a God-inspired prompting at all but rather a distraction from the task God has given you to do.
3. God’s promptings usually involve servant hood.
Many promptings that are not God-inspired are easy to discern because they are self-promoting or self-serving. Be cautious and leery if a prompting promises easy money, and fame and perks and toys—it may be a trap of the devil.
A prompting that calls one to humble themselves, serve somebody, encourage somebody or give something away will more likely than not be an authentic prompting from the Holy Spirit.
Many of God’s promptings will require of us to choose between being comfortable and building a godly character; being a winner in the world’s eyes or being a winner in God’s eyes.
If a prompting promises you overnight health, wealth, comfort and happiness, BE CAUTIOUS!
May you be drawn ever closer to the Lord Jesus, may He guide you, lead you, protect you and form you into the blessed persons you were meant to be. This will be accomplished as you begin and continue your prayer Walk with Him!
