Recently, a couple of Christians talked with me about their prayer life. So I thought we could learn more about prayer. Prayer is a part of my life. Praying is one thing Christians do. But why? What is prayer about? Admittedly, I need to know more about prayer.  Like the father said of Jesus’ power to heal his son, I say of prayer, “I believe, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

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Jesus’ disciples saw Him pray and knew John’s followers prayed. Prayer was a part of being a good Hebrew so you would think they prayed. But something must be different about Jesus’ prayer life. Luke tells of these events:

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” (Luke 11:1-4)

Prayer is the fundamental way mankind communicates with his Creator.  Prayer comes from the humility of knowing that God is God and we are not.  Prayer is FAITH. I heard someone say, “I do not believe in the power of prayer, I believe in the power of God who answers prayer.” That is a great statement!  Our faith is not in the words or the incantation of a prayer. Our faith is in God who hears and answers prayer. Prayer demonstrates a relationship with God. Failure in living for Christ often connects with failure to pray. When our faith is weak, we find it hard to pray and when we fail to pray our faith weakens.

There is a powerful FORCE connected with prayer. That force is God. Prayer calls upon God to act in our lives in a way that is best for us.  We read over and over again in scripture of the church growing despite opposition when they gathered to pray.  I challenge you and the congregation of God’s family that you assemble with to pray. Paul reminds us that God is “able to do far more abundantly than all we as or think, according to the power at work within us,” (Eph 3:20). 

We need to faithfully pray in faith.

– Scott

I plan to cover the topic of prayer in a series of posts that I will publish each Tuesday. This series of blog posts are based on my notes from Charles B. Hodge, Jr., “Prayer: the Voice of Faith,” (Searcy, AR:Resource Publications) 1996.