Prayer is how Christians respond to God touching our spirit. Reaching out through all of Creation to commune with us, God draws us into His presence. Prayer is our conversation with He Who Created Everything. Prayer is worship in its highest form, marked with adoration, confession, praise, and petition.
Prayer is an activity we need to be intentional and spontaneous about. We should set aside time daily to spend time with God in prayer. We should strive to pray together, with our spouses and children on a regular basis. Prayer should also be spontaneous. When someone comes to us and asks us to pray, we should be ready to do so at that very moment. There is no need to say, “I’ll add you to my prayer list.” Pray now. You can still pray for them later. But prayer in the moment has incredible power. Try it sometime, if you haven’t.
The Apostle Paul encourages us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Prayer is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. 16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? -1 Corinthians 14:14-16 (ESV)
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit -Jude 20 (ESV)
For the believer, prayer should be our response throughout our daily experiences and interactions. When things are good, we should utter a prayer of praise. When things get difficult, we need to ask God for help. In all things, at all times, we must cultivate a prayerful spirit. Through prayer, we demonstrate how we are different from the world we inhabit temporarily, while celebrating the hope we experience eternally.
Pray now. Pray later.
The Devotional Guy™ 