Daily devotion – the wonder of being a person who prays…
It was a precious time of study and prayer last night at the chapel as we gathered to pray. God desires us to be a people of prayer because when we pray it demonstrates our love, trust and hope in God.
When Jesus overthrew the money changers and those who were using the temple to buy and sell, Jesus proclaimed, Luk 19:46 “Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.”
There is often very little real prayer made today in many Churches. The programs of the Church find little room for prayer and it is by far the least popular and attended service of all.
Why is that? Why has prayer become such a neglected practice in the Church of Jesus Christ?
I love reading over and over in the gospels the verses telling us of Christ’s prayer life.
Early in the morning before the sun came up, Jesus would be alone in prayer. At night when the tired disciples were sleeping, Jesus would again find a place to be on His own with His Father to pray.
Mat 14:23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
When a sermon is announced with prayer in the title, there is a sense of people switching off to such a message announcement – for we all know how important prayer is, we all know we should each pray more. But the fact of the matter people just are not interested in praying.
Why?
A lack of prayer in any believer is a reflection of our relationship with our Lord. For those who are enamoured with Christ, deeply thankful for their salvation, prayer is very much a part of who they are and what they do each day. For they love speaking to their Saviour and Lord. They enjoy thanking Him for His mercy and grace. It happens as a result of a close relationship with He who died on the Cross for them.
In addition, a praying person is one who has come to know that without Christ in their life they can do nothing!
We can read about prayer, we can study prayer, but that won’t make us praying saints.
Love the Lord Jesus with all your heart and you will be a praying person. No one will have to drive you to pray, you will pray because you enjoy the wonder and the privilege of being in the presence of He who died on Calvary’s Cross just for you…because He loves you!