Pray Right

Matthew 14:²³ “Then, after the crowd had gone, Jesus went up to a mountaintop alone (as He had intended from the start). As evening descended, He stood alone on the mountain, praying.” (The Voice)

If you check Jesus’ life, Jesus finished a meeting where amazing miracles had happened. He taught the Word of God, and the Word of God had healed multitudes. He had fed them physically. He multiplied bread, and amazing miracles broke out. Then what did Jesus do? Jesus went to the mountain to pray, and He prayed for at least six hours. That is communion, that is prayer that seeks God. What a lot of people do is that they want a miracle, so they are ready to pray for six hours before the miracle happens. So, they will pray and pray, and when the miracle happens, they don’t go back and pray for six hours. Why? They have gotten what they were looking for, so they no longer need to engage in prayer.

It is just like someone who was attending every prayer meeting. And then the person was miraculously healed, and that was it. Then, people in church went to follow up with the person because the person was no longer attending midweek services or prayer meetings. They were telling the person the importance of hearing the Word of God and remaining in God’s presence. After a while, the person told them to please stop coming to the house. If you go to a hospital to get your jab and you are well, why do you need to keep going back to the hospital? So, the person saw prayer like going to a hospital and saw God like a doctor. The person did not have any desire to know God or to be in sync with God. That is a big problem.

Jesus prayed six hours after the miracles. We like to pray our own six hours before the miracle. And that is okay, God says we should pray. However, when the miracle has happened, after the God Will Do It Again season, for example, when we call for prayer meetings, do you show up? The people who show up are the people who are in it for God and not for what they can get from God. Prayer puts you in sync, in tandem with God. Your timing and God’s timing are in sync. And the beauty about this is that God expects us to pray for one another, and this is so powerful. You are supposed to pray for your brother and sister. So, it is not just about you being in tandem; you are interested in other people being in tandem, so you pray for them.

The point is, that is how God wants us to pray. Romans 15:³⁰ “Brothers and sisters, I beg you to help me in my work by praying to God for me. Do this because of our Lord Jesus and the love that the Holy Spirit gives us.” (NCV, emphasis added). This is Paul asking the believers to pray for him. So, don’t just pray for yourself, pray for others. Engage in prayer.

Prayer: Father, help me to pray according to Your heart, in the Name of Jesus. Amen!