The Importance of Prayer

I was reminded of the importance and long reaching effects of prayer this past weekend at our son's ordination. My brother wrote a paper sharing a testimony of our great-grandmothers prayers from the 1930's. You often pray not really understanding how important that prayer is and the long term affect of that prayer. To read that testimony go to my personal blog at armitage-texas.blogspot.com.

Is prayer important in your life? How important is it? Take a moment and truthfully answer these questions. The answers will reveal your true heart condition toward the importance of prayer. Prayerlessness will leave you with an empty unfruitful life often full of doubt and fears. Review the memory verse for this lesson: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusted in Him." Isaiah 26:3 tell you that you can live a life of perfect peace. Christ has another promise in John 14:13 "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do." Prayer is important!

Pray is a gift, it is a source of strength and fellowship with our Lord. Know also that it is important and has a far reaching influence in your life and the lives of those for whom you pray.

There are many reasons to pray beside the fact that God commands us to pray. Let's look at a few of these from scripture:

• God hears us when we pray. Psalms 34:6 "This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. '


• Pray continually I Thessalonians5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."


• Prayer protects and give victory. I Peter 4:7 "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers."


• Heals a broken heart. James 5:16 "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."


• Strengthens believers. Jude 20 "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit"


• Builds a desire to serve God. Matthew 9:38 "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”


• Prayer accomplishes much. James 5:16, 17 "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months."


• Prayer brings glory to God. Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”


• The impossible is possible through prayer. Acts 12:5-7 "Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.


• Prayer gives us good things. Matthew 7:7-11 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!


• Prayer imparts wisdom. James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."


• Prayer bring peace. Philippians 4:5-7 "Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."


• Prayer keep us from temptation. Matthew 26:41 "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”


• Prayer bring revival to the heart. Psalm 85:6 "Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?

As you reflect upon these verses, also know that we should not only pray for ourselves. God wants us to pray for others. There are examples of these prayer thought scripture, prayers for the protection of other believers; we are commanded to pray for our government leaders as well as our church leaders and missionaries; As you read your Bible take note of those who pray and what they pray about. Pray about things that matter to God.

Prayer should not be an option for believers. I'm reminded again of the passage of scripture in Romans 12 that these things should be reasonable and a normal part of your everyday life.

I want conclude this lesson with a quote from Norman Nelson book "Morning Glory" July-August 1999.

"When we pray, we are saying by our action of praying that we are dependent on God, that we need His help...Prayer is power---power to change us and then, power to effect change through us...The good news is that when we seek Him in Jesus Christ, we'll find Him and we'll experience the fullness of life that only He can give."

Make the decision to make prayer an important part of your life.

Prayer - Sharing Personal Thoughts

Psalm 73:28

"But it is good for me to draw near to God;

I have put my trust in the Lord God,

that I may declare all thy works."

Many people teach children to pray before bedtime and meal time. Poem type prayers are taught that the children memorize and repeat day by day. "Thank you for the food we eat.."; "Now I lay me down to sleep..." This method is a good idea to teach children the habit of prayer, but it does not teach them that prayer is personal conversation and communion with our Lord and Heavenly Father. That God cares about even the little things in their lives, like the lost kitten, a fall from your bike, or a friend who is sick. My husband and I raised our kids on prayer. We prayed for our children before they were even born. We dedicated each of our three children to the Lord. They heard us praying for them over their crib at night. Our children will tell you the times they would wake during the night to find Dad in their room praying. Children learn by example and prayer is no exception. Still to this day we continue to pray daily for our children and our grandchildren as the family grows. We have learned that you can never pray to much.

My parents taught me to pray and were an example of prayer all through my life. I know that my Dad still prays for me, he didn't stop when I married and moved out. I'm sure this has much to do with my desire to pray. I would like to share a testimony my brother John shared with me recently. It blessed my heart and I know it will yours as well.


"Quoting my brother John: "One thing that has made a large impact on my prayer life over the years is understanding that "PRAYER IS A RELATIONSHIP, NOT AN EXERCISE," WDad taught me a lot about what our Father in heaven is like. I remember while we were growing up I would often pop into his study for a visit. I remember finding him deep in his studies or a number of times on his knees praying. Yet even when I apologized for the interruption and started to back out of the door he would stop what he was doing and invite me in to talk. He NEVER chased me out or made me feel like I was intruding. As I've gotten older I have realized that even though my visits to his study weren't necessarily any big crisis in my life they were often just a desire to see my dad! He ALWAYS made the time. This has gone a long way in helping me develop my concept of our Father in Heaven. He always takes time to listen to us no matter how "busy" He is; His attention is fully on us when we seek Him. He's not acting preoccupied or annoyed by our interruption but is sincerely focused on the fact that we need His attention even when our intentions are trivial in the grand scheme of things." LJN


When we are young we do not always understand how life experiences influence our adult life. I too am so thankful for godly parents. I'll share one instance in my life that I always remember about prayer. It taught me that even little things are important to God. I was about ten and I had gotten a new watch for my birthday. Shortly afterward I could not find it. My mother helped me look and look, but neither of us could find it. She left me in my room and told me I should pray. Following my pray I started looking again and almost immediately found my watch in the back of my closet floor.


Our parents shared prayer requests with us and we prayed together as a family. Most every day our family would have devotions and prayer together. We shared special times of prayer together such as Christmas time before opening presents. We each took turns praying, giving thanks to our Heavenly Father for the blessings of the past year. Our parents believed God heard and answered prayers and taught us that God was personally interested in our lives and well-being.


I would like to invite YOU to share some personal thoughts about your prayer life. An event that might have impacted your prayer life with God. An answered prayer that caused an impact or a change in your life.


Send your thoughts and testimonies to my personal email address. I will attempt to share these throughout our series on prayer. Or if you just want to share some prayer requests, I would be more than happy to add you to my private prayer list. plarmitage@comcast.net

Know you will find strength, revival and renewal in PRAYER.

Prayer is a Gift

PRAYER... Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Do you know and understand the awesome privilege you have in coming to the throne of God in prayer? Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." As God's child, you are invited to come boldly and freely to Him. There are many passage of Scripture that teach you how to pray as well as many examples of prayer. God has been challenging me for some time to do a study on prayer and to make time for more prayer in my personal relationship with Him. My husband is a wonderful example of a prayer warrior. I am amazed how often I find him sitting in various places and I ask what he is doing and the answer is always the same, "I needed to pray". So as I study, I would like to share with you the things I am learning in hopes that you too will be challenged to pray more and spend more time with your Savior.


Prayer is a privilege... You have a special personal invitation to come into the presence of the God of all creation. Not only an invitation, but you have an audience with God. 1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." What a privilege! What an honor. God desires you to come to Him. God's plan from the beginning was to commune or fellowship personally, individually with all His children. Do you desire Him as He desires you? My prayer, my spiritual challenge for this year is Psalm 73:25" Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee..." I long to make God my utmost desire.

The struggle with our fellowship with God began when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. Since that event, every person born has come into this world with a sinful nature. Romans 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Because of our sinfulness we struggle with rebellion and sadly enough the result of this rebellion brings emptiness.


Walk in the Light... I John 5:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." The separating wall that sin brings between you and your Savior can be torn down with a prayer. So what's holding you back? That rebellion caused by sin. Take the step of a prayer of confession. You will then know the fellowship of God, find your heart clean, experience new clarity and understanding of the Word, and the peace that passes all understanding. God is so good and loves us so much it is hard sometimes to even imagine. Make time to pray. Make time to "BE STILL" and quiet yourself before the Lord.


How will God resond when you come? Psalm 34:15-17 "The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles."

Let me encourage you to:

1. Get a prayer journal

2. Set aside a specific time for daily prayer

3. If you already have this time set - increase your time with God

4. If you need an accountability partner, prayer partner, find one

Prayer is the key to spiritual satisfaction and success

Prayer will become the source of power for your daily walk

Emptiness will be filled and overflowing with the love of God

Yield to God and seek to know Him intimately

Prayer is a gift from God that benefits your life

Recommended Bible Study Book:

"Draw Me closer, Lord" by Marsha Hubler Publised by Regular Baptist Press.

I am using this book as part of my study on prayer . See the link on this blog for Regular Baptist Press to order your copy.