‘Watch and pray,’ that ye enter not into temptation’, Matt. 26. 41.
In the last issue we looked at the importance of daily Bible reading, and one of the suggestions was to accompany Bible reading with prayer. The two activities are linked and are vital for every believer in the Lord Jesus. Yet prayer can be very difficult - I have not yet come across a Christian who finds prayer easy, or who claims to pray enough!
Daily prayer is essential for Christians - it is our communication with God. There are many examples of how people pray in the Bible, and I have recently enjoyed looking through the prayers of the Apostle Paul. One example is in Ephesians chapter 3 verses 14 to 19. As he prays for the Ephesian believers, we can notice how he prays and what he prays for:
- ‘I bow my knees’, v. 14. There is an attitude of reverence and worship, as Paul speaks to the ‘Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’.
- In his prayer, Paul appreciates ‘the riches of his glory’, v.16.
- Paul asks for the Christians:
- to ‘be strengthened with might’ (power), v. 16.
- ‘that Christ may dwell in … [their] hearts by faith’, v. 17.
- to ‘be able to comprehend’, v., 18, the immeasurable fullness of God.
- to ‘know the love of Christ’, v. 19.
These are great themes that we can incorporate into our prayers for ourselves and others.
Whilst personal prayer is essential for Christian living, there are pressures on time that make this difficult. Some pressures are genuine priorities, but there may be other calls on time that could be adjusted to accommodate or increase daily prayer.
If a daily prayer time is not part of your schedule, or you want to pray more, the following hints may ‘help (there are a few similar points to our last article on daily Bible reading!):
- Commit to God to be serious about daily prayer and ask for His help in making changes to your life to accommodate this.
- Find a time that works for you, ideally when you are least likely to be distracted. A routine is good because it helps you carry on with a prayer time even if you do not feel like it.
- Consciously remove distractions; it might help to leave your phone or tablet in another room!
- Allocate realistic amounts of time at first; it might be easier to start with shorter prayer times that can be gradually increased.
- Always start with thanking God and finding some aspect of the’ Lord Jesus that you can appreciate in your prayer. If you have just read a portion of the Bible, there may be something fresh or new to bring to God.
- It is important to be open with God and confess sin.
- Bring requests to God. This could include a variety of things, from asking for help ahead of a difficult day, praying for the needs of sick believers and friends, to asking for the salvation of people you know.
- Remember when praying for other Christians that subjects can go beyond practical and health needs! Paul prayed for the Philippian believers that their ‘love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that … [they] may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ’, Phil. 1. 9, 10. We need to pray more for each other’s spiritual wellbeing.
- Consider using a prayer list or writing items down; some Christians find it helpful to keep a prayer diary and note how God answers prayers.
- In addition to specially set aside prayer times, recognize that we can speak to God at any time or in any place!
