Christian, do you pray as much as you should? Are there situations left untouched and quandaries floating about because you refuse to pray as God desires? Prayer is necessary. God works mightily through prayer. For the child of God, prayer is not an option or a task resorted to when things look bleak. Prayer is powerful, delivering answers derived in a world currently unseen to us.
Luke, the disciple, was a physician in his day. He clearly understood, however, that health of spirit, emotion, and body comes ultimately through God. In Luke 18:1 (NASB), he instructs, “Now [Jesus] was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.” Luke reminds us that God is unequivocal in His demand that we pray. In a culture of “quick fixes,” shallow relationships, and mitigated perseverance; God desires that we press into His heart by prayer. How does that sit with you? Does your heart respond, “Yes! I know the experience and wonder of pouring myself into prayer!” Or, does your heart answer, “No. I am not there. My prayer life is quite flat, and I realize my need to heed the call.”
The apostle James proclaims in James 5:16 (NASB), “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” The Greek root here behind the words effective and accomplish is a word that means “to be operative.” It is the same Greek root behind the word works in this glorious verse, “Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11, NASB). Imagine, the power of God working in our prayer life is related to the power of God working everything in the universe for His purpose! When we truly pour ourselves into seeking and petitioning our Lord, God operates on our behalf. He accomplishes things. No longer dormant lie the possibilities. Prayer is the “operative word”!
Unique about prayer is the inherent relationship between the physical and spiritual realms. When I speak to God with my voice (using the physical body and brain He has given me), I am functioning in the spiritual realm with God. He, in turn, may produce results back in the physical world. It is the intersection of Heaven and Earth, if you will. Prayer is the place where we are instructed to lay hold of heavenly things and blessed to see outcomes of both a spiritual and material nature.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego prayed to God in Heaven, and God answered by protecting their physical bodies from seemingly inevitable consumption by fire. Prayer wrought tangible results. Of course! This is God’s will – that His children pray! Do you set aside with marked intention minutes and hours of your days for intense seeking of your God? Is your heart rising to Him on a regular, deliberate, and serious basis? Is He hearing you petitions? There is not shortcut to the effects only prayer can bring. It is God’s will. We must pray.
