Starting Point

1 Thess.5:¹⁷ “Never stop praying. Make your life a prayer.” (NLT & TPT).

Prayer is so central to the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. The first mention of when men began to call upon God and to pray was in Gen.4:²⁶ “To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of the Lord.” (NRSV). Interestingly, the Bible ends with a prayer in Rev.22:²⁰ “He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” A prayer for the Lord to come. And in between, there are the prayers of David, the prayers of Daniel, the prayers of Moses, the prayers of Jeremiah, the prayers of Jesus, and loads more. Let this be your assignment for today, research the prayers in the Bible and learn from the way different people engaged with God.

It is as if  the entire history of redemption is woven into the fabric of prayer. If you want to start your life, start with prayer. If you want to start a career, start with prayer. If you want to start a business, start with prayer. If you want to start your marriage, start with prayer. If you want to start a relationship, start with prayer. If you want to start anything, start with prayer. The state of our hearts is the barometer of the quality of our prayer, that is if it exists at all. Phillip.4:^6-7 “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” How many things are we to pray about according to the scriptures? Everything!

So, we can test your prayer life by the peace or lack of peace in your heart. The extent to which your heart is at peace is the extent to which your prayer is effective, or you are effectively praying. If your heart is in turmoil, it is proof that you are not praying. What is the challenge you are having even right now? Take it to God in prayer. If your heart is not at peace, it shows your lack of prayer. If despite what is going on around you, your heart is at peace, it shows the effectiveness of your prayers. It is not what happens outside that determines the quality of your prayer. People think that getting the breakthrough or when the answer to their prayer comes, that is proof that they have prayed. God is saying, not so, it is the peace in your heart that is proof that you have prayed. Regardless of whether the answer has come or not. Think about that.

So, why do we pray? We have a lot of answers to this question. However just to help someone who may still be searching for something more concrete, here is why we pray. Firstly, we pray because God Commands Us To Pray. Col.4:² “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.” Luke 18:¹ “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I ask for the grace to start everything with prayer, the grace to never stop praying, and the grace to make my life a prayer, in Jesus Name. Amen!