EPHESIANS 6:18 – “Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer. . .”
THEME OF THE DAY: THE PLACE OF PRAYER IN BIBLE-READING AND CHURCH. If we sat down for a time of close spiritual fellowship, sharing our lives in Christ, and I asked, “What area in our walks with the Lord is most important?” And before you answered, I would add another question, “What in our walks with the Lord is the most difficult?” You would likely give the same answer for both questions as “prayer.” I would. Why? For a few reasons and let’s begin with why prayer is important and then consider its difficulty applying both to our Bible reading and church attendance.
Prayer is the most important spiritual discipline in the life of a Christian because God has ordained it as the primary way we communicate with Him. God saved us to commune or fellowship with Him and this through Bible-based and Bible-driven prayer. It is without dispute; the quality, quantity, and priority of prayer in our lives reveals the value we place on our relationship with the Lord. If we want to really know how close to the Lord we are, go no further than our prayer lives privately and with other Christians. As goes our prayer lives so goes our walk and intimacy with the Lord. So, that deals with question one. And now question two … “What in our walks with the Lord is the most difficult?” Same answer – prayer. Why? The primary answer to the “why”, in regards to difficulty in prayer, is because of the attention and intensity of the attacks from the devil, the world, and our flesh to prevent us from prayer. Our spiritual foes know that a praying Christian will be a bold and effective Christian for the Lord Jesus. The devil, the world, and our flesh will offer little to no resistance to the prayerless Christian who even reads the Bible and attends church. You see, reading the Bible and attending church, without a fervent, intimate, private prayer life to know the Lord will make reading the Bible and attending church dull routines out of habit, not love. Consider three things a prayerless Christian will have in their lives when it comes to Bible-reading and church attendance.
First, prayerless reading of the Bible will produce knowledge but no passion. We will gain facts but no feelings. We will be able to quote scripture but not be enflamed by scripture. Prayer is the fire that ignites the fuel of God’s Word producing a warm heart aglow with worship of the God being encountered through prayerful reading of His book.
A second thing produced in prayerless Christians who read the Bible will be knowledge but no action. Reading the Bible without obeying the Bible produces no spiritual growth or change. Prayer is what puts feet on our knowledge of the Word. Prayer is what builds desire in our hearts moving our wills to obedience and validating our love for the Lord Jesus. Prayerless Christians will not be obedient Christians because they are not encountering the Lord who is worthy of our loving obedience.
Another product coming forth from prayerless Christians will be the formality in their church lives. Attendance will be a routine; a mere mechanical act done out of a “sense of have to.” Prayerless Christians rarely anticipate the Lord’s Day and the thought of encountering the living Christ. Something else happens in prayerless Christians toward church. It doesn’t bother them to miss. Even make excuses for being absent without any thought of the message their indifference sends to the Lord and other believers. This should be expected of prayerless Christians. If they are not encountering Christ during the week in their private lives, why would they expect to meet Him on His Day?
Yes, prayer is the most important discipline and privilege in the Christian life. And yes, it is also the most difficult. But also remember, prayer is the most glorious of invitations one may ever receive. It is in prayer our wonderful God calls us to Himself to behold Him, adore Him, know Him, and love Him. Don’t let the devil, world, and flesh distract us from these soul-satisfying truths about prayer because if we do, our Bible-reading and church attendance will make no spiritual change in our lives.
PRAYER: Lord, teach me to see prayer as You see prayer; a call to fellowship with You.
REFLECTION: How we pray, the priority of prayer, and the quality of prayer reveals our true spiritual condition.