A Commitment To Prayer

-January 3, 2023-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

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

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18).

The subject of prayer is pervasive throughout the Scriptures. It says in Genesis 4:26, “As for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.” This the first mention of prayer in the Bible. Revelation 22:20 tells us, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Even so, come Lord Jesus! The number of people in the Word who prayed is innumerable. From Abraham interceding for Sodom where his nephew Lot was living; to Moses’ requests for the Israelites; to Hannah’s deep supplication for a son; to Hezekiah’s pleadings to live longer; to Jesus’ holy cries to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane; to Paul’s prayer to remove the thorn in his flesh; just to name a few.

As we begin this new year, it is a good time to recommit ourselves to prayer each day of this year. In our lessons over previous days we discussed how we should pray, who we should pray for, and what we should pray for. Today, our subject is: “A Commitment to Prayer.” It shouldn’t be a casual or infrequent occurrence in our lives, but an everyday part of our lives, especially in the morning before we face our day. So many believers only pray consistently, earnestly, and urgently when they are in trouble. God wants us pray at all times, communing with Him.

Paul simply wrote, “Pray without ceasing.” This doesn’t mean we are to be in non-stop prayer, but rather in a spirit of prayer from the time we get up until we go to bed at night. This means we can thank Him, pray for others in need, and for our own situations and needs in our special time time, but also through the day. The people we should pray for the most are the saints of God. Paul told the Ephesians, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication for all the saints.”

Prayer is hard work. It takes commitment, dedication and devotion. It must come from our hearts. No can or should force anyone to pray. The best things I learned about prayer is attending and praying at our prayer meetings. I still remember fondly the Men’s Saturday morning Prayer Breakfast where we prayed first then chowed down on some delicious pancakes. I also reflect on our Monday night men’s prayer meetings that were begun a brother’s home and continues to this day at our church on Wednesday nights. Our pastor likes to call our church, “a praying church.”

I have a plague in my kitchen that has a beautiful scene of a sunrise over an ocean with a single bird flying over an ocean area with a huge rock formation in the background. It is entitled, “The difference:

It says, “I got up one morning and rushed right into the day. I had so much to accomplish that I didn’t have time to pray. Problems tumbled about me and harder came each task. ‘Why doesn’t God help me?’ I wondered. He answered’ You didn’t ask.’ I wanted joy and beauty, but the day was gray and bleak, I wondered why God didn’t show me, He said, ‘You didn’t seek.’ I tried to come into God’s presence; I used all my keys at the lock. God gently and lovingly said, ‘My child, you didn’t knock.’ I woke up early this morning, and paused before starting the day. I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray.”

Let’s us not just make the resolution in our own strength to pray every day, but rather the commitment with the Lord’s help to do it. So many resolutions begin so well but fail to make it past January. May we be Prayer Warriors daily. Stay safe and healthy.

Asking, seeking, and knocking in prayer,

Dean