What is prayer, and why do we need it?
Simply put, prayer is talking with God. Prayer is how you build a relationship with God. When my husband and I were dating, we spent hours out on my parents' front porch swing talking. You can't get to know someone without talking to them. Therefore, you won't recognize God's voice if you don't talk often.
Just like you have moments of vulnerability with your spouse, you have to have those moments with God. When my husband and I got together, it was right after my best friend had passed away. I cried on his shoulder many times. It got to the point that we would joke if I hadn't cried on one of his shirts. Jesus is always waiting for you. He is your shoulder to cry on. Give your problems to God.
“Prayer is talk therapy with the best therapist there is” -Bethany Jennings.
God's strength is greater than our own. Once you've given your problems to God, forget about them. God is much stronger than you. He can bear them all on his own. There was a message that Rev. Josh Herring preached, and he titled it, “Satan's Prayer Pattern”. One of the points in the message he talks about is begging. Begging rarely gets answered. Begging God tells him that you don't have faith in him. Just ask him for the need and then move on. Don’t beg.
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (Mark 11:24 KJV)
Prayer is our Insurance. My mother has always said that paying tithes on your income is insurance that all of your financial needs will be met. I have learned that prayer is insurance that your day is going to go right. If you don't start your day off with prayer. It's going to be a bad day. It is how you get the right attitude. It’s how you get direction. It gets you in tune with God's voice. Prayer is your insurance that your day is going to go right and that you will be able to deal with whatever comes your way.
“Anything you don’t ask God to counsel you on, hell is authorized to counsel you on it.”
( -Sis. Vesta Mangun)
Prayer provides you with energy for the day. Prayer gets you ready for the day. Prayer is how you get the fruits of the Spirit. Rev. G.A. Mangun created the Tabernacle Prayer. Part of the tabernacle prayer is praying on the fruits of the Spirit. We cannot be Christ-like without the fruits of the Spirit. They come with the gift of the Holy Ghost. It's the Fruit “OF” the Spirit. If you have the Holy Ghost and not the fruits, then you must be starving the Holy Ghost. You get stronger in your Spiritual man when you pray. That's why it is best to start your day in prayer. In Proverbs 31, when it talks about the virtuous woman, it says “...She riseth also while it is yet night”. We should be getting up and making time for prayer. It will give you Spiritual energy for the day.
“...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”
(James 5:16 KJV) Fervent prayer in the Bible is described as a sincere, passionate, and earnest prayer that is often accompanied by strong emotional expressions. Elijah fervently prayed for rain. The church fervently prayed for Peter while he was in prison.
We can no longer just say patty cake prayers. We have to spend intentional, fervent time in prayer. We have to take this seriously. My husband started doing something this year, and I think it is a fantastic thing. He started a prayer journal. Whatever God speaks to him in prayer, he writes it down. It's also a way he can track how much he has truly prayed. I have started to do the same. And as I look back over it and I see the gaps between the days of my last true breakthrough. It perturbs me. I have got to do better.
Prayer will instill mercy in your heart. Several months ago, I was browsing through YouTube and my eyes fell upon a video about the CECOT prison in El Salvador. In the video I watched, the man went into the prison and showed how it was such a strong, impenetrable prison and how it was impossible to break out. They receive minuscule food, the prison is overcrowded, and they aren't allowed outside. They spend 23-23.5 hours a day in their cell. They are only allowed in the center hallway for 30 minutes to 1 hour a day. The lights stay on 24 hours a day. They have no blankets or pillows. They are not allowed to have silverware when they eat; they must eat with their hands. There are several reports of abuse of the inmates by the guards. It is a horrible place.
However, according to the man in the video, who I watched, said that was all perfect because the men inside that prison were animals. They didn't deserve freedom. He videotaped them in their cell like they were animals. They deserved to be in there. He zoomed in on the inmates' faces and tried his best to say how evil they were. He tried his best to make them out to be animals, unworthy of mercy or love.
Many years ago, there was a person in my life with whom I was very close. They hurt me so deeply. I was very angry, but above all, I was hurt. I was crushed. One night in prayer, I began to hear wailing. Someone was in absolute agony. God spoke to me and told me that it was the soul of that person crying out. I have never forgotten that sound. As I looked at those prisoners in the CECOT prison, I could only see the souls crying out for salvation.
Will you stand in the gap?
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. (Ezekiel 22:30 KJV)
Will you stand in the gap for your family in prayer? How many people in your city are without Christ? I want to take as many people with me to heaven as I can. It all starts with prayer. Prayer will cause you to be merciful. Will you pray for the souls that are crying out? Even if the world tells you that they are unworthy of mercy and love.
What about your Pastor? Satan and his minions are trying their best to get rid of the voice of God in your life. Will you stand in the gap and pray for your Pastor? Pray for your church. What about that one person in your life who you can see they are riding the fence? Will you stand in the gap and pray that they will stay in church? Pray against hell as hell fights against their soul? Will you pray for the souls in your city?
The greatest benefit of prayer is heaven! I have fought too long to lose out on heaven. My greatest desire is to get to heaven and worship my King. Prayer is where God can correct the things in my life that could cause me to miss heaven. I want God to make me aware. I don't want to fight all of hell, then to get to heaven's gates, to realize I had a minuscule speck on my robe. I can't live without God. I couldn't imagine living all eternity without my savior.
Prayer is the Key…
To health problems
To financial troubles
To dis-unity
To break strongholds
To backsliders
To soul-winning
To revival
No matter the problem, no matter the issues, prayer is the key!
I pray that this has pricked your heart. No matter where you are in your walk with God, you always need more of him. I can't make it without him. He is my best friend, and I don't want to miss out on an opportunity to talk to him.
-May the Lord make his face to shine upon thee,
Peyton M. Armstrong
Citations
Holy Bible KJV 1611
