Pray Always!
How many times each day do you pause to draw strength from prayer to God? If your spirit and closeness to God seems dim it may be that you have failed to keep open your line of communication with God through prayer. Jesus received much strength this way after many arduous hours teaching and working with his disciples. The men closest to Him often observed how much prayer meant in Jesus' life. It should be of no less value in our lives.
Will prayer really change things? Yes. It is not naïve to expect life to be far richer with prayer than without prayer. Some of the wisest people in the world depend upon prayer to receive the power of God they need to sustain the strains of life. The Christian believes prayer can keep him safe from harm, help heal the sick, feed his spiritual man. Scriptural? To be sure. [1 Pet 3:12] For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." Or [Phil 4:6-7] Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)
Peace of mind is the most sought-after commodity today. Prayer yields the peace of God. Prayer is our contact with God and His grace, for unless we pray we have no direct contact with God in this vital way. In contact with God we receive the power to make our lives full and always glowing and growing.
Prayer can be a formality, a habit or a conformity that one yields to or it can be a product of faith that makes one believe God is his Father and hears and cares and acts.
We may not know always how to ask God for what is best for us…we might even foolishly ask God for things that are wrong, but we can be assured that if our prayers are in accord with His will we shall see them answered.
Ask in Christ's name and it shall be effective. [I Jn 5:11-15] And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-- whatever we ask-- we know that we have what we asked of him. (NIV)
Jesus' influence with God the Father is used to the benefit of the one who prays in His name, or by His authority.
