1 Chronicles 16:11 “ Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His face continually.”
Seeking God through prayer should be an ongoing process for Christians. We should seek Him for his presence, His mercy, His wisdom, His instruction, His help… the list goes on. According to 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we should pray without ceasing. I read once of an individual who never used the word “amen” in her personal prayers because she never wanted her prayers to God to have an ending point.
Prayer is the link between God and man. All through the Scriptures, we read the prayers of faithful people, and how God answered them. Here are a few examples of prayer warriors in the Bible.
Our best example is Jesus (Matthew 14:23, Mark 1:35, Luke 5:6, 6:12), but there are others. Daniel (Daniel 6:10), Mary (Luke 1:46-55), Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10), Paul (Ephesians 1:6, Colossians 1:9), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 12:1-6), and David (Psalm 3, and throughout the Psalms) were all praying people, and still there are more!
Why is continual prayer so important? Prayer maintains a relationship between God and His children. Imagine if you never spoke to your dearest friend. What kind of relationship would you have? Prayer keeps our relationship with God viable! It connects us to One who lovingly created us to have communion with Him. God’s desire is that we fellowship with Him, and we do that through prayer. There are a myriad of benefits that can be associated with prayer. Here is a sampling from the Bible.
*Prayer draws God near to His children (Psalm 145:18)
*God responds to prayer (Mark 11:24, 1 John 5:15)
*God forgives our sin (2 Chronicles 7:14)
*Prayer protects us from temptation (Matthew 26:41)
*Prayer helps us attain wisdom ((James 1:5)
*Prayer helps alleviate worry (Philippians 4:6)
*Prayer gives us direction (Jeremiah 42:2-3)
Prayer is a form of worship (Psalm 95:6-7), and it draws us closer to our heavenly Father. Like Daniel, we should turn our face toward God throughout our waking hours and as the song says, “Have a little talk with Jesus.”
“Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.” – Jeremiah 29:12
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I’d love to hear from you! How has prayer made a difference in your life?