New Year Resolution

My 2017 resolution is to always be in the spirit of prayer. I mean to earnestly pray about everything and also pray at all times. I know this is a very ambitious spiritual goal but guess what, I am not doing this alone, this is the secret, Christ is in me, by His Spirit that aids me on, this is possible.

As I meditated on this goal,  it dawned on me a very important truth about the grace of prayer.  Prayer is a great privilege that believers have in Christ. This may seem as one of the common truths to know as a believer, but this one suddenly hit me as we came to the close of 2016. The privilege of prayer is so great and wonderful that, it is often missed by many of us, just think about it, mere human beings having the divine audacity to talk with an Almighty God at anytime and anywhere (mind blowing right!). Yes! With prayer, we have no restrictions when it comes to talking to the sovereign God, I mean the creator of the heavens and earth.

Holy Spirit I am very grateful to you for the privilege of prayer.

Prayer as a divine audacity to commune with the Almighty God. – Thank you Jesus!

Prayer is a privilege you cannot miss

As I continued to think about this, even more, I came to realize that we have no choice to neglect this privilege. Prayer is a privilege that has been given to believers to utilize at all times and neglecting to pray is a sin. The neglect of prayer being a sin is confirmed when Samuel the prophet told the people of Israel that he cannot give up praying for them as it will be a sin to do so. 1 Samuel 2:23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way. 

To neglect prayer is a sin – 1st Samuel 2:23

The enemy’s deception about prayer

The word of God emphasizes that, as believers, we ought to always pray. In the Bible, the word “Pray” is mentioned 313 times, this means it is very important to God that we pray (He stress it over 300 times). As we know, one of the main objectives of the enemy is to ensure we disobey the word of God, with that he uses various ways and means to distract us or deceive us from obeying Him. In everything that God tells His children to do, the enemy finds ways to deceive us to do the contrary. You may recall if you have heard the creation story or read the book of Genesis on what happened to Adam and Eve.

Well, this is a quick refresher of what happened:

God says : 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”- Genesis 2:17

The devil says: 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.

This is to say whatever God says in His word to us ( His people), beware, child of God, the enemy will always present the opposite to you. Know the word of God thoroughly so that you may be able, to tell the truth from a lie.

The Blessing in Act of Prayer

God is so good and loves us dearly and in this, He blesses us as we obey His word. Not only does God meets our requests in prayer but also makes the of the act of praying a blessing in itself. The following are just some highlights I have experienced in moments of praying.

The act of prayer brings comfort – The Holy Spirit manifest His tangible presence in times when we pray. He is the comforter, He shows up to comfort His children when they cry unto Him. There have been times, when I was very burdened with things and I did not know where to turn, I just knelt at my bedside and began to pray. I say this God’s glory, I got up from these times of praying feeling refreshed, happy and hopeful in God’s grace and power.

The act of prayer edifies your being – God speaks His word to His children when they pray to Him. The mother of Samuel, Hannah received a word of the promise of a son after she prayed to God. The angels of God came to strengthen our Lord Jesus  Christ in the garden of Gethsemane when He prayed. In the upper room, the Power of the Holy Ghost came upon the 120 when they prayed. God edifies His children when they seek Him in prayer, He is a loving Father who never turns His children away when they seek Him. In times of prayer, God releases His word of wisdom, word of knowledge, prophecies, and spiritual quickening to strengthen His children.

The act of prayer is worship to God – When we pray, we reverence God for who He is as Sovereign. As we bring our petitions and requests to Him, we are declaring His might and power to manifest in that which we have presented to Him. As a child of God, your reverence and faith in God are manifested in your prayerfulness. David says in Psalm 5:8 – But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house, At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.

Believers ought to always pray and never give up. The world may say we are wasting our time when we do it but the divine truth and power of prayer is only revealed to those who believe. Dear one, I pray that you join me in this spiritual goal to pursue praying like never before. When we pray we join together with Christ to intercede for our lost brothers and sisters. The call of God on every believer’s life is to stand in the gap for those who need to cross over from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God. Praying is one of the powerful tools we have as believers to rescue our lost brothers and sisters from the world into the Kingdom of God.

At times, you may not know how to start or what to pray about, just start by saying, Holy Spirit help to me pray

 Romans 8: 26Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[a] with groanings which cannot be uttered.

God is faithful and loving, He will always confirm His word.

Pray without ceasing-1st Thessalonians 5:17