ALWAYS PRAY, PRAYING ALWAYS

One of the great hymns of the faith is “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” There’s a segment of the song that stands out to me. It says, “what a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.” So simple, yet so profoundly true. It is an honor for us to be able to talk to the Almighty God in prayer concerning, EVERYTHING. Realizing that we are an open book before Him, we should approach God in honesty and sincerity. The Hebrew writer tells us that through God’s word He is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do (Hebrews 4:12-13). The great privilege of prayer gives us access to God. Just think of it; the one true God that has all-power, is all-knowing, and is everywhere present, invites His children to come to Him. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).

Let me ask you this dear reader; do you need help? Are there needs in your life? Of course, you do; we all need God to help us and address our needs. O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come (Psalm 65:2). God sees you, your situation, your problems, and your struggles. He is closely monitoring the details of your life. He invites us to come before Him, humbling our hearts and entire being. It’s important that we keep the lines of communication open between God and us and be aware of the things that interrupt our fellowship with the Savior. Let’s consider how the flow of fellowship and our prayers can be disturbed.

In Isaiah 59:1-2, we read, Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear. Sin separates: it hinders our prayers and blocks our blessings. The great blessing of being able to commune with God is stifled; like God putting us on mute, the text says He will not hear. So, as I come to Him, I must first acknowledge my sins. In earnest surrender, Lord I confess all my sins. True confession involves the sincere desire to change from the sinful behavior or disposition. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). Confession of our sins is a major, necessary ingredient when we pray.

This coming to God in prayer, what exactly does it look like? When we think of a person praying, we usually envision someone on their knees and their heads bowed, or head towards the heavens with outstretched hands (Ref. 1 Kings 8:54, Ezra 9:5, St. Luke 22:41, Acts 21:5). Some pray with their eyes opened, as well as closed. We may sit or stand during prayer. There is public, corporate prayer, and personal, private prayer. There are long prayers and short prayers. A prayer may simply be, Jesus, help me. Prayers that are vocal and prayers that are silent (1 Samuel 1:10-18).

Our Lord illustrates an important lesson about prayer through a parable (St. Luke 18:9-14). 9. And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10. Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Our Lord Jesus is exposing in the example of the Pharisee the sin of pride, the ugliness of trusting in yourself that you are righteous, and the wickedness of despising others (see verse 9). The Pharisee thought he was praying to God, but in the eyes of God, Jesus said he stood and prayed thus with himself (verse 11). God has him on mute because of his pride. When the Pharisee is bragging about all that he does and what he sees as his accomplishments, God is not listening; but the publican, in humility and true repentance for his sin, with 7 words, has God’s attention. Feeling unworthy to even look towards heaven, the publican pounds his chest and says, God be merciful to me a sinner (verse 13). We see from this his humility and sincerity, and because of that, Jesus said he went down to his house justified rather than the other.

We are to approach God in prayer with sincere confession and DAILY AGGRESSION. We know that we can’t physically live on our knees, but we CAN have a praying heart that is in communion with God consistently. Prayer is not just asking God for things and making requests; it is also hearing from Him through His word and the daily response of our heart to yield in obedience. This we must do always, without ceasing and in an ever-increasing way. Our Lord taught, men ought always to pray, and not to faint (St. Luke 18:1). One reason why He’s emphasizing the need to always pray and not faint is because of the weakness of the flesh.

As our Lord was nearing His sacrificial death on the cross, with the powers of darkness pressing against Him; He understood the need for warfare prayer. Always teaching and being our perfect example, even in His time of great adversity, He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy (St. Matthew 26:37). My Savior, who was about to bear the sins of the world, felt the unimaginable load in His human frame. Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me (verse 38). He enlists them to be watchful and to entertain prayerfulness. But as we all must do, He went a little further, and fell on His face, and prayed (verse 39) -

We are thankful for those that pray for us, holding us up and covering us with their prayers. Joining us in prayer for our special requests and the matters we have before God. Their intercessory prayer has helped to carry us through many difficult seasons in our lives. But the prayers of others is not meant to replace our prayers. When Jesus returned to Peter, James, and John, He found them asleep. Those that He had asked to watch and pray, were asleep on the job. There will be times in your life when it will all be on you. The disciples wanted to be there for Jesus, but their eyes were heavy. It’s not that people don’t want to be there for us, sometimes they just can’t for whatever reason.

Our flesh will resist our efforts to draw closer to God through prayer and to commit to prayerful intercession on the behalf of others. Jesus said to Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Here’s the lesson that the sleepy disciples missed. As our Lord battled in prayer, because of the intensity of the fight, the Father dispatched an angel from heaven, to strengthen Him (St. Luke 22:43). Note these words in verse 44; And being in an agony, He prayed more earnestly – The word for agony in the text literally means conflict or struggle. Christ was in a ferocious battle, and what He does in that moment is what we must learn to do in warfare prayer. He prayed more earnestly - means His prayer intensified. With the battle being a nonstop fight, we must put on daily the whole armor of God. As a part of our spiritual armor and weaponry, Paul the apostle lists prayer. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints (Ephesians 6:18). When the battle gets violent, don’t succumb to the enemy; don’t decrease or relent. That’s the very time to turn up the heat in prayer, calling out in faith to the Lord who has promised to never leave or forsake you.

Whenever we discuss prayer, we must mention James 5:16, the clause that says, The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. The example of Christ praying in the garden of Gethsemane demonstrates the effectiveness of fervent prayer. He manifested His victory through prayer and was able to rise and drink the bitter cup of sacrifice. Before there could be a triumphant resurrection, or a sacrifice at Calvary, there had to be prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. For us, we don’t just pray about what we deem to be major or important, but we pray about all things, always.

Even with all the pressures, demands, and challenges of life, we don’t have to worry. There is much uncertainty and confusion all around us. The spirit of the day is fear and trepidation; but God has given us something special through prayer where we can invoke His presence wherever we are. Each day, throughout the day, and all day, let us pray. He invites us to call on Him; He delights when we seek to hear from Him. Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not (Jeremiah 33:3).

From the heart and hand of Pastor Reginald Reaves