Reasons To Pray

Written by stacy

“Pray without ceasing”
(1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Every now and then I have to remind myself of reasons to pray. I trust that as you read some of the reasons the Lord has brought to my mind, they will reinforce the priority of prayer in your daily life as well.

We pray to have fellowship with God. In Proverbs 15:8 we read that the prayer of the upright is God’s delight. Revelation 3:20 tells us that the result of asking Jesus Christ into our lives is having fellowship with Him. The Westminster Catechism teaches that the chief end of man to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. What an honor and privilege to have fellowship with the King of Kings!

We are commanded to pray. Here are just two examples: “Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17); “Keep watching and praying??? (Matthew 26:41).

We pray to follow Christ’s example. Sometimes we make the Christian life so complicated. We read so many books and hear so many messages on prayer that our heads spin with information. But I find when I go back to the Gospels and find out what Jesus did, my thoughts come back to God’s perspective. Praying was important to Jesus. Luke 5:16 tells us that Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. The very Son of God made prayer a priority, even though His day was filled from morning until night. If the Son of God was so dependent on fellowship with God the Father, how much more should we?

Prayer is vital to spiritual maturity. Prayer involves talking to God and God talking to us through His Word and His Spirit. Just as we need food to keep well physically, we need spiritual food to keep growing spiritually. We can miss a meal and not feel any ill effects, but if we go without food for a week, we begin to weaken. We can go one day without feeding on God’s Word or praying, without any apparent effects, but if we continue this practice, we will become undernourished spiritually, losing the strength to live a victorious life for Christ and to maintain the boldness necessary for a vital witness for Christ.

Prayer brings results. Someone once said our fruitfulness (effectiveness) multiplies in direct proportion to the amount of time spent in prayer. Martin Luther said, “Work, work, from morning until late at night. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer.???

Prayer DOES change things. Scripture clearly teaches that prayer can even change the course of history.

God’s almighty power, His love, His wisdom and His grace are available to you, if you will but believe and claim them. Jesus promised we would do the same miracles which He did, and even greater ones. On the basis of the Lord’s example while He was on earth, and now as our Intercessor at His place of authority and power with the Father, we can conclude that prayer is the greatest privilege of the Christian life and the most revolutionary source of power known to humankind.

Father, enable us to follow Your Son’s example and recognize we are totally dependent on You. Amen.

Related Links:

Learn more about how Jesus prayed:

http://www.retirementwithapurpose.com/jesusandprayer.html

About the Author
This article was written by Katherine Kehler. You can read more about this author by clicking this link:
http://www.talk.thelife.com/katherine-kehler/

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