THE ISSUE OF PRAYER.

Prayer is a major activity of the christian faith. It is the act of worshiping and seeking the face of God through Jesus Christ. It is the act of asking God to do what he has already promised to do. It is also the act of supplicating and communing with God one on One. Prayer could be seeking the face of God for our needs; preservation, protection, provision, good heath, etc; and for the purposes of thanksgiving and praises for the wonderful things He is doing for us. Also, it could be in the form of meditative payers on issues that bother the mind, spirit and soul. The Scripture says in all situations, good or bad, we should give thanks to God; (1Thes 5:18). Thanking God all the time will always see us through in turbulences and challenges. We must be conscious of the fact that the key to overcoming challenges is learning how to pray and praying aright. Every good thing is sourced in God, and all of God’s promises have their yes and fulfilment in the person of Jesus Christ. This, in itself, should help us to overcome the anxieties and worries of the flesh to control us. We can put the flesh under subjection through constant prayers. With an attitude of thankfulness, God will hear our prayers and requests as we make our needs known to Him. The promise is that, His peace will guide and guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 

When we give thanks to God in all situations, good or bad; it shows we recognise that bad things do not come from God. This will create awareness in us that whenever we face some challenges, the Lord will come to our help because He is the present help in the time of trouble; (Psa 46:1). He will not allow us to be overwhelmed by evils, griefs, fears, pestilence, trials, etc; according to His promises. The peace of Christ is one of the greatest promises we can experience when we pray always. In fact, we are commanded to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, since, as members of one body, we are called to peace; (Col.3:15). When we are thankful, we are expressing faith in God’s provision for us. Prayer works God’s provision and deliverance. We see this principle confirmed in Scripture: “And God will meet all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”; (Phil.4:19). There is always much peace in us when we pray and believe that the Lord is able to meet our expectation as He has promised to do. We should learn to depend on the Lord and make our requests known unto Him and His peace will keep our hearts and minds perfect always. He will keep us in perfect peace if we believe and trust Him; (Isa 26:3).

On the contrary; prayerlessness is a sin because it is a violation of the Lord’s prayer command. A prayerless Christian is said to be a powerless Christian. Because of the importance of prayers, Jesus taught His disciples that prayer is an absolute necessity for a successful christian life. He taught them, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; (Luke 18:1). He also taught them how to pray effectively; “Our father which art in heaven …Amen; (Matt 6:9-13). So, as believers today, we need to be faithful in prayer because some things cannot happen except by prayers. Prayerlessness makes the heart grow cold with loss of desire to study the scriptures meditatively. In addition, it will lead to; sinfulness by backsliding, blocking of God’s presence, vulnerability to the devil, loss of divine provision, illness without healing, unanswered prayers, discouragement in witnessing mandate, insecurity and fears by loss of God’s love, joy and peace. The end of it is perdition occasioned by loss of salvation through careless prayer life. We need prayers to be able to set our affection on things above and not on worldly things; (Col 3:2). To rejoice in the Lord evermore, we must learn to pray always without ceasing. A prayerful christian is a powerful christian.