August 1, 2011 by Mari-Anna Stålnacke
I can’t live without prayer. I know some people rarely pray. They might even intellectually believe in the power of prayer but they don’t really practice it. Or they go through the motions of prayer but they don’t really believe in the power of prayer anyway. Somehow they can live without prayer just fine. But that’s not me. I can’t imagine going through one single day without praying. It is hard to explain why I can’t live without prayer but I will try.
Here are my top ten reasons why I can’t live without prayer:
10) Prayer connects. Prayer is a gift from God for all who believe. Through prayer I am connected to God. Through prayer I am connected with brothers and sisters around the world. Prayer is a family thing. In prayer we are all one in Jesus. How wonderful is that?
9) Prayer empowers. I don’t know about you but I have come to believe that the best parenting method is praying. Seriously. I am not in control of my life. I am not in control of my children’s lives. I don’t know how to raise my kids. But by the grace of God I am sustained every single day. When I pray for my kids I know God is taking care of them. When I pray for wisdom, patience, and guidance to raise my kids I know God will be there every step of the way. I don’t know how non-praying parents do it. But with God I can do anything. God empowers me to parent and I am so grateful. With God I go anywhere. Without God nowhere!
8 ) Prayer worships. We are created to worship our Heavenly Father. Prayer is a worshipful attitude to God. Prayer is giving all the glory to God. Prayer is a way of life worshiping God Almighty. Prayer is indeed worship at its best: praising God all day long. Praising God lifts our hearts towards God. Praising God is also the best warfare against the enemy. Corrie ten Boom has said: “When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy.”
7) Prayer prepares. I think what A.J. Gordon has said is so true: “You can do more than pray after you have prayed; but you can never do more than pray until you have prayed.” In that sense prayer is prerequisite for work. If God is not with us in our work there is no point to do anything. When we’ve asked for God’s guidance, wisdom, and blessings we are ready to start working!
6) Prayer participates. The best thing we can do for any person is to pray for them. Sidlow Baxter has pointed out “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.” Because through prayers we give up our own agendas and enter into God’s plan. Praying is being active participants in God’s work.
5) Prayer surrenders. Prayer is acknowledging day after day that God is God and we are not. Prayer is surrendering our will to God time after time. The more we surrender in prayer the more room God has to work in our lives. Prayer is searching for God’s will and not ours. Prayer is remembering that we are in good hands and those hands are not ours.
4) Prayer enables. Prayer is my life line to God. Through prayer I can cry to God. I can ask for help, guidance, and whatever else is needed. Prayer gives me a direct access to God. Prayer enables me to live fully in grace. I can speak to God whenever about whatever. I am never alone, without hope or out of reach of God’s grace. Or like W.S: Bowd has said: “Prayer is weakness leaning on omnipotence.”
3) Prayer guides. I’ve had enough rough experiences to convince me that I do not know what’s good for me. I need God and I want to follow God’s plan for my life. Prayer provides me a way to ask for and receive guidance. Prayer is a conversation. I share my questions and concerns, God provides his answers and guidance. I ask for directions, God closes the wrong doors. Through prayer God guides me through thick and thin.
2) Prayer equips. I also have learned to pray until praise flows. Before that happens I have not stopped worrying. Prayer directs us to exchange our worries to joys in the Lord. Like William Law has said: “He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life.” Prayer equips us to live our lives the Jesus way.
1) Prayer breathes. Ideally praying would be as natural as breathing. Matthew Henry has stated: “You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray.” Through prayer God breathes new life, new hope, and new joy into us. Through prayer we are living in God’s kingdom here and now. “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.” That’s what prayer life is at its best.
Let us pray with the words of St. Ignatius Loyola:
Take, O Lord,
and receive my entire liberty,
my memory,
my understanding
and my whole will.
All that I am
and all that I possess
You have given me.
I surrender it all to You
to be disposed of
according to Your will.
Give me only Your love
and Your grace;
with these
I will be rich enough,
and will desire nothing more.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Q4U: Why can’t you live without prayer?
Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you live your life in prayer!
Photo courtesy of Brandon Johnson
This post was first published as a guest post at http://justacloserstumble.blogspot.com
