The Power of Prayer

“A day without prayer is a day without blessing, and a life without prayer is a life without power,” — Edwin Harvey

Prayer enters us into a relationship with God. We can’t grow closer to Him without it.

He knows our hopes and dreams, our fears and failures before we even speak a word, but prayer allows us to feel His grace and it brings Him glory.

When we pray, God’s presence becomes more tangible. He’s no longer just a higher being that we worship. He becomes a friend or a loving father to whom we can reveal our deepest secrets without shame.

It connects us to Him on a more personal level, and it’s also our greatest weapon against the enemy.

Satan hates it when we pray and will do anything he can to intercept this powerful time we have with God by throwing distractions our way, which is why we need discipline in our prayer life and when it comes to reading the Word.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Philippians 4:6, NIV)

Be consistent

Life happens and sometimes we get slack in the things that should be a priority. I don’t know about you, but prayer gives me a sense of peace that nothing on this earth can match. The day I pray before leaving the house is always a better day than those when I forget.

The same applies when it comes to reading God’s Word. To build up consistency, I adopted a “read before I feed” policy. This means I don’t eat breakfast until I have first read a passage (or more) of scripture which is either led or followed by prayer.

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:24, NIV)

Praying for others

If you’ve been praying over someone for a while but are yet to see the results, don’t lose hope. I became a Christian because an ex-colleague prayed for me. He was concerned about my involvement in the new age.

He recognised the dangers and he prayed for my salvation. It didn’t happen overnight, but Tom’s prayers were answered because two years after I first argued with him about how Christianity was a hoax, Jesus revealed himself to me.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16, NIV)

Jesus

The Gospels record that Jesus had a very active prayer life. He prayed for others, He prayed with others and He also prayed alone. If Jesus, who is the perfectly sinless Son of God, felt the need to pray as often as He did, then how much more do we mortal sinners need it in our daily lives?

Jesus prayed as an example to his followers. He tells us to “watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41, NIV)

What does prayer do?

Prayer provides answers, it comforts us and it helps us to find direction in our life. It aligns us with God’s will and allows us to experience peace, healing and forgiveness for sins.

Prayer invites miracles. It saved Daniel’s life when he was thrown into the lion’s den (Daniel 6:21) and it welcomes the Holy Spirit into our lives (Jude 1:20.) Prayer helps us to be more like Jesus, who set the perfect example of prayer (Matthew 6:9–13.)

“Prayerlessness is an insult to God,” Ben Jennings argues. Every prayer-less day is a statement by a helpless individual, ‘I do not need God today.’ Failing to pray reflects idolatry — a trust in substitutes for God. We rely on our money instead of God’s provision. We rest on our own flawed thinking rather than on God’s perfect wisdom. We take charge of our lives rather than trusting God.”

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, NIV)

Thank you for reading :-)