Would you like to have a better prayer life? Do you need motivation to carve out time against your maxed-out, packed-out schedule? Here’s four scriptural reasons to keep first things first in your relationship with God.
1. It’s the most important question
When the disciples of Jesus saw his miracles, they had only one question. They didn’t ask, “How should we preach?” Or, “How can we lay hands on the sick?” They didn’t try to get him to list the steps to cast out a demon. They asked, “Teach us to pray.” His disciples could clearly see the power source of Jesus‘s ministry was his time in the secret place with the Father.
2. There’s no move of God without it
Every great move of God has been preceded by prevailing prayer. You don’t get Acts 2 without Acts 1. You don’t get the Holy Spirit outpouring on the day of Pentecost without the upper room. Are we missing this? Have we forgotten that “you do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2). Show me a praying community today, and 25 years from now I will show you a community in revival. Bonus: Read the story about David Brainerd if you want an espresso shot for your prayer life.
3. Jesus is passionate about it
In all Scripture, what made Jesus more angry than anything else? It was that the moneychangers had turned the temple into a market. Jesus’ zeal for prayer shines through when he cracks his whip, flips tables, and says, “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves” (Mt 21:13). I believe Jesus was fulfilling one of the prophecies of David in Psalm 69:9. “Zeal for your house consumes me.” Jesus was fiery when it came to prayer.
4. Just look at heaven
Did you know heaven is a prayer room? Of course! There’s praise and worship going on (Rev 7:10), intercession (6:10), and the voice of God speaking throughout.
You struggle to stay focused in prayer because it’s boring? Then you’ve got it all wrong. Prayer is not boring. You are boring. Just take a moment to meditate on the prayer room that is heaven.
There’s angels and living creatures with six wings. There’s a sea of glass with an emerald horizon. There’s a river of fire mixed with water flowing from the throne. Jesus looks like a slain Lamb one scene, and in the next his body is glowing with jasper, carnelian, and flames. There’s a two edged sword coming out of his mouth. The seraphim have such powerful voices that the doorposts of the heavenly venue shake as they shout. And God is so awesome that every time they circle the throne, they see something about God anew they’ve never seen before, and all they can do is roar, “Holy! Holy! Holy!” Heaven… and real prayer… is not boring but exhilarating!
It can all be summed up like this. Prayer is actually the end goal, not the means to get there. Nothing is more enjoyable than experiencing God‘s presence.
Now take that to your prayer closet. 