Prayer Life

1 Thess. 5:¹⁷ “Never stop praying.”

The Passion Translation reads, “Make your life a prayer.” We have different seasons as a community and when you make use of those seasons you build up your muscles-your spiritual muscles. When you have a challenge, you can call upon it and it will answer. When you do not build up your muscles, there is nothing to call upon, then you start fasting alone and it is more difficult to fast alone. Prayer is not just a religious duty or a meditative exercise that results in pleasant feelings of calm. Prayer actually makes a difference in both regular daily life and occasional crisis. Prayer makes a difference, always makes a difference.

1 Thess.5:¹⁷ (KJV) “Pray without ceasing.” Always pray! In the morning – pray! In the afternoon – pray! In the evening – pray! When you are sleeping – pray! There are only two times that you should pray; when you feel like praying and when you do not feel like praying. Check, do I feel like praying? Yes, then pray. Check, do I feel like praying? No, I pray! Whichever way just keep praying! When we were growing up, my grandmother always made sure we prayed. During our morning devotion, there is a song that we sang constantly. During our evening devotion, there was another song that was sang constantly. The morning devotion song was in Yoruba because my grandmother could only speak Yoruba, but I will share the English version with you. Come to the morning prayer, come let us kneel and pray. Prayer is the Christian’s Pilgrim staff to walk with God all day. In other words, without prayer, we cannot walk with God.

You can drill prayer into your spirit man so much that even when you are sleeping, you are praying. It is possible to fill your children with prayer so much that even when they are not with you or when they eventually leave your house, they remain filled with prayer. One of the greatest gifts you can give your children is impacting prayer into them and it is never too late. You can start now! Children are like sponges; once they get it, they amplify it. Sometimes when I tell my mother some of the things my grandmother used to say, she is shocked. How come I know these things? They were programmed into me as a child. Get your children involved in spiritual exercises; teach them how to fast and pray. They can skip one meal and pray. Teach them to start with worship and thanksgiving. The point is when you have forgotten or when you have gone to be with the Lord, they will still be singing the songs.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, empower me and my family to pray without ceasing always, in Jesus Name. Amen!