The Necessity of Prayer:

I have talked about prayer before, and its importance.  It is something that is one of the main staples of the Christian walk and faith.  However, it is something we don’t always focus on.  I have been reading a book about missionaries and those who are willing to put themselves in dangerous situations for the sake of talking about the Lord.  This book is called, “Extreme Devotion” by the Voice of the Martyrs Organization.  

There is one quote I really want to highlight which is,  “Prayer-that which does the most, we often do the least.  Prayer is our first defense against spiritual warfare, yet often our last resort.”  I love this quote.  I realize it is very much reality for a lot of people and a lot of believers.  Sometimes believers don’t spend much time talking to God. 

I believe this is a growing trend.  We are even bad as a society of not being very consistent talking to one another, let alone God.  We spend a lot of time texting or messaging on the phone and we spend some time here and there in person, but we don’t always spend much time on really getting to know and talking deeply with one another.  This is really only the way we will grow as people and as a society, so it is important to spend this time with one another.  

However, I know as a person I really struggle when I don’t have much opportunity to talk to others.  I really want to talk to others and be able to describe how I am feeling and how I am handling any major stressors or problems I am experiencing in my life.  I know it matters to me when people don’t spend time talking to me.  I want the people in my life and the relationships I have to take the time to talk to me.  It is important then to keep this same thought when I am in my relationship with Christ.  He wants to talk to those He is in a relationship with all the time.  

Prayer is so important.  It is so vital to our Christian walk and life.  It is important for us to grow our relationship with Christ and to help ground us to the world.  The best way to get to know God is through conversation with Him.  Yes, it is very important to talk to God about any problems or thoughts we have.  

As a person with a lot of anxiety, there are times when I don’t spend time really praying to God to help assist me in my anxiety issues.  Then when I don’t talk to God about anything, my anxiety increases and increases to a level where I have absolutely no control over it.  The anxiety spiral just keeps getting tighter and tighter, and soon it is as tight as a rope all over my whole body.   Going to God in the beginning stages helps ease my mind and overall mental health.  It reminds me that God is the one ultimately in charge. 

Prayer serves an even bigger purpose than just continuing our relationship.  Prayer also gives us a chance to pray for other believers and other people.  This gives us a chance to pray over the souls of others and their hopeful salvation.  We can also pray over missionaries who are spreading God’s love and salvation with the world.  We can pray over their safety and their hardships.   This helps other people learn about Christ and help grow the body of Christ.  

There are many verses in the Bible about prayer.  One example is Romans 8:26 which says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”  Sometimes we don’t pray because we don’t know what to say.  We don’t know how to best put into words what we are trying to pray for, either what we are struggling with or what we know we need to pray over others.  This verse can give us confidence because it shows truly how much God loves us and wants to build a relationship with us.   He even sends the Holy Spirit to help us pray and talk to Him when we don’t know what to say.  

The challenge for this week is to spend some alone time in prayer.  I hope you can find a nice quiet place to get out all your thoughts and emotions to God.  The second part of the challenge which goes with the first is to see if you can spend some time in prayer over some missions or missionaries who are spreading God’s Word.  That is the main way his love and knowledge will spread is through our prayer and commitment to talking to Christ.