Why Should We Pray?
by David J. Stewart | May 2015 | Updated May 2017
Philippians 4:6-7, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Oh how the believer needs prayer. Oh how our churches need
prayer today. The Word of God has so much to teach about prayer.
My friend, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble
(James 4:6). Humble Christians are praying Christians. If we
don't pray, it is because we are proud. Prayer is evidence of
dependence upon the Lord. If we don't pray, we are saying, “God,
I don't need your help, I can make it alone by myself.” Truly,
we all VERY MUCH need the Lord's help as believers in
everything that we think, say, plan and do.
I certainly need and desperately want God's grace, mercy, help, encouragement, power, comfort, love and presence to sustain me in all that I do. I need to walk with my God. I cannot make it alone. I need my Savior every moment of each and every day. All the way my Savior leads me. Jesus is my best and only true friend. I enjoy knowing that God enjoys my fellowshipping with Him. If God is happy, that makes me happy. I need His presence each day, just me and Him. As I grow older, I long to leave this earthly body and be present with the dear Lord.
There is an important passage of Scripture in 2nd Corinthians 5:8-10, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Please don't miss this truth. The apostle Paul says that as believers we desire to be with the Lord, for which cause we “LABOUR” to please Him.
The Greek word for “accepted” in verse 9 is euarestos and means, “fully agreeable: acceptable, well-pleasing.” Since we know that we are headed for Heaven to be with our precious Lord, and we know that will be held accountable for our words and deeds, we ought to be living and working diligently for the Lord, so that things will go well for us. Otherwise, Heaven is going to be very unpleasant when we are judged. Whether we are still here on earth absent from the Lord's physical presence, or with Him bodily in Heaven, either way we must ultimately give account for our life. Why wouldn't every believer want to be fully accepted of the Lord?
Effectively, the apostle Paul is saying three things here:
- I desire (as a born-again Christian) to be present with the Lord in eternity.
- Therefore, I must labor for Christ now, so that God will be well-pleased with me.
- Because we must all appear at The Judgment Seat Of Christ and give account for our deeds, good and evil.
That makes perfect sense. It is
solely a matter of faith. In fact, read the preceding verse in
2nd Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith,
not by sight.” The world is filled with carnally-minded
believers who “are choked with cares and riches and pleasures
of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection” (Luke 8:14).
I have learned to pray at all times, as things come to mind throughout the day. I do have a prayer list, with a magnet holding it to my refrigerator door, but the bulk of my prayer is done randomly throughout the day, as I am thinking about things. I believe this is why the Holy Bible commands us to “PRAY WITHOUT CEASING” in 1st Thessalonians 5:17. God knew that we couldn't possibly remember everything that we should pray about, so God makes it easy for us by letting us pray throughout the day, praying as we remember names, people and places.
Some believers are embarrassed to talk about prayer, or to pray in public with others. That's OK! I always volunteer to prayer over meals, since I love Jesus and have no problem praying to my precious Savior in public over a meal.
And again in our precious text passage of Scripture from Philippians 4:6-7 we ought to to approach IN EVERY THING BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION WITH THANKSGIVING LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN UNTO GOD.
“Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons—but they are helpless against our prayers!” —Sidlow Baxter
The Christian's Weapons of War are Spiritual
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HOW THEY PRAYED George Whitefield, the famous English evangelist, said, “O Lord give me souls, or take my soul!” Henry Martyn, a missionary, cried as he knelt on India's coral strands, “Here let me burn out for God!” David Brainerd, missionary to the North American Indians 1718-1747, declared, “Lord, to Thee I dedicate myself. Oh, accept of me, and let me be Thine forever. Lord, I desire nothing else; I desire nothing more.” The last words in his diary, written seven days before he died, “Oh, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.” Thomas a Kempis, 1379-1471, said, “Give what Thou wilt and how much Thou wilt, and when Thou wilt. Set me where Thou wilt and deal with me in things as Thou wilt.” Dwight L. Moody implored, “Use me then, My Saviour, for whatever purpose and in whatever way Thou mayest require. Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel; fill it with Thy grace.” John McKenzie prayed thus when as a young missionary candidate he knelt on the banks of the Lossie: “O Lord, send me to the darkest spot on earth!” “Praying Hyde,” a missionary in India, pleaded, “Father, give me these souls, or I die.” Mrs. Comstock, a missionary in India, uttered this prayer of parting when she sent her children home, “Lord Jesus, I do this for Thee.” |
The believers SEVEN spiritual weapons according to Ephesians 6:12-18 are:
- FAITH
- PRAYER
- TRUTH
- GOSPEL
- SALVATION
- RIGHTEOUSNESS
- WORD OF GOD
Anyone who scoffs at these weapons is woefully naive of the power of God. One Christian man who walks with God is more powerful than all the hordes of Hell, because God is his arm of strength. Psalms 27:1, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” The man who fears God need fear none else!
The following excellent writing is from the, “SWORD SCRAPBOOK II” (a compilation by Dr. Viola Walden (1915-2007) of bits of wisdom, Scriptures, devotion and truths from THE SWORD OF THE LORD articles written by Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) over the decades. The book was published in 1969. The Sword Of The Lord was founded in 1934. WHAT A BLESSING! The following edifying quote is from page 117 . . .
“Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons—but they are helpless against our prayers!” —Sidlow Baxter
The Christian's weapons of warfare are spiritual. Faith is the believer's shield, to thwart demonic attacks (Matthew 4:1-11). Prayer is making our requests known unto God, so that we may receive from God (Philippians 4:6-7). Truth makes us free (John 8:32). The Gospel is soul-winning, the power of God unto salvation to them that believe (Romans 1:16). Righteousness is living a holy life, so that God can bless us as He desires (Proverbs 3:5-7). Salvation is being born-again (1st Peter 1:23). The Word of God is our sword to fight (Hebrews 4:12).
The satanic public school system removed the only hope our children ever had to turn out right—The inspired King James Bible. Can anyone foolishly ask why our nation has lost its goodness. America was great when we were good, and we were good when we had great churches. Today's churches are a joke, using multiple Bible versions, teaching everything but the simple Gospel, promoting the homosexual-produced music of Walt Disney to their youth. Disney's CEO is a known homosexual. Why, Oh why, should God bless America when He cannot even bless our churches because of their apostasy? Our sins have withholden good things from us!
Our leaders have sold us out. It is called “treason”! Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan was no hero, who stood idle as millions of American jobs went to foreign soil. That's not a good President!!! The deindustrialization (sending jobs to foreign countries) of the United States has broken our back economically, and it was no accident; but rather, a part of the globalist plot to destroy America, so that a New World Order may rise. The holy Bible prophecies that it will happen, that is, world government (Revelation 17:9-12). The “Beast” in Revelation 17:11 is the coming Antichrist, who rises up out of the seventh kingdom, which is the the now forming world government (aka, a New World Order). We are living in the end times of Bible prophecy and world history.
Why has all this evil befallen the United States? It is because of our wickedness!!! Sin always brings adverse consequences. The penalty may not be immediately seen, but sin always does damage. Sin always costs us more than we wanted to pay, takes us farther than we intended to go, and keeps us longer than we planned to stay!!! Sin thrills and then it kills! Sin fascinates and then it assassinates! There's always a high cost for low living. The middle letter of the words pride and sin is “i.” We all have “i” problems.
Prayer is not an option for the Christian. Prayer is faith in action. I don't like hearing about “the power of prayer,” because it is the power of God that makes prayer effective. I like talking about the power of the Holy Spirit. The heathen world is so lame that they've reduced prayer to a mere helpful therapy. Hog wash! My friend, prayer is meaningful because we have an omnipotent (all powerful) God in Heaven who cares about us (1st Peter 5:7), loves us (1st John 3:16), and has promised to help us (Hebrews 4:15-16). Philippians 4:6-7, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” God is a help in time of trouble. Psalms 37:39, “But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.” Prayer helps others.
The main reason we ought to pray is because God told us to, plain and simple. The lost world prays (Matthew 6:7-8), but God doesn't hear the wicked (Psalms 7:11). 1st Peter 3:12, “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” If you are saved and trying to live right as His child, God promises to hear your prayers. And even if you're living in sin, you still have a blood-bought right in Christ, to come before God's throne of grace to obtain mercy to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16). The Holy Bible never tells backslidden believers not to waste their time praying. No, God commands all His children to “PRAY WITHOUT CEASING” (1st Thessalonians 5:17). That's why we pray. It matters not if we see answers to our prayers, or have to trust God on blind faith while we wait to receive an answer, or never seem to receive answers, we “ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1b).
