Why Pray?

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ    Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 -18

My father was a 2nd LT during WWII and fought the Nazis in France and Germany in 1944-45. The one thing he told me was there was no atheist in foxholes. I heard a story about that very thing. A soldier was in a terrible battle sitting in his foxhole with another soldier when he cried out to God and said if you get me out of this alive, I will devote my whole life to you. When the battle was over, the  soldier who heard him pledge asked if he would    follow up on his promise to God. He said no, I survived despite him.

The sad reality is that many Christians fall short in their prayer lives. When we don’t pray, we are not only missing out on God’s blessings, but also we are being disobedient to His commands. However, there is so much more to loose than just being disobedient. We miss the opportunity to speak to the creator of the universe. Do you realize that we are granted access to the very throne of God? The writer of  Hebrews tells us, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16).

When the Lord taught His disciples how to pray in Matthew 6, from that example, we are given 5 keys to effective prayer;

1. Who-When we pray, Jesus told us we are to pray to His father in Heaven.
2. What-We are to pray for His second coming and for His will to be done in our lives.
3. When-We are to pray daily for our needs and not just once a day. We are commanded to pray without ceasing. This means we are to bring our petitions for others, our heart’s desires, and seek His will for our life.
4. Where-When we conduct our personal prayer, it should be in private. 6 “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” ( Matthew 6:6).
5. How-Jesus taught us not to repeat words over and over, “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full” ( Matthew 6:5). Let God hear your heart when you pray

If you don’t have a fervent prayer life, I will encourage you to cry out to God and ask Him to give you a heart and desire to pray.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark