Prayer: why try?

This is the sixth and final article in our series on prayer. Each day we have been looking at a particular aspect of prayer and examining what the Bible has to say about it. Today we will talk about why we should work on our prayer lives, and I will offer a few closing applications.

Philippians 3:12-14 tells us, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

2 Corinthians 12:9 reminds us, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Colossians 1:29 is one of my favorite verses to explain the balance between God's sovereignty (his control over everything that happens) and our responsability. It says, "For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me."

I added the emphasis in each of these verses to help show how they relate. What I see here is that while the Holy Spirit and Jesus aid in our intercession as we saw yesterday, we are still commanded to pray. It is still our responsability to work hard to do what he has called us to do and is empowering us to do.

What are some other practical steps we can take from here?

Find someone to pray with and to hold you accountable. This could be your spouse, a friend, or perhaps an older person at church.

Post Scripture prayer prompts in strategic locations throughout your house to remind you to pray. Next to the kitchen sink & inside my cupboard doors are two of my favorite places. I seem to spend so much time there that they are frequent reminders. I should probably post some next to the washer and dryer as well!

I would encourage you to pray regularly with your spouse and children. I am married to a very godly man who has made it a priority since the day of our wedding whenever possible to pray together daily. There have been times such as when he was on the other side of the world and couldn't access a phone or during some job training when no phone contact was allowed that we have not prayed together, but otherwise we always try to. This summer we will have been doing this for ten years, so it comes rather naturally now! My husband and I have found convenient times to be before bed each night, before either of us leaves in the morning, before meals, on the way to church on Sundays, and at the start of any long car trip. Incidentally, one of the ladies who attended the prayer seminar I recently taught shared with me that she & her husband were trying to pray before bed each night, but the prayers would get so long, that one of them would often fall asleep or they would give up. My husband and I typically pray short prayers together at night & in the mornings and have longer prayer times in the car before long drives and on the way to church on Sunday mornings.

The Bible has so much to say about prayer! These articles grew out of a 40 minute seminar I did on prayer, so they are just a brief overview. If you like what you have read here, or even if you don't, but want to learn more about prayer, I would encourage you to read more about what the Bible says about prayer. I’ve listed some "Extra verses" in the first article or two. You can also use a concordance (Strong’s in my favorite in book form. This in my favorite on-line.) to do a word study on "pray*", "interce*" and/or "supplication" to find more verses. (By using the asterisks like this, you will get results for all forms of the word from the asterisk on. For example, you will get verses containing pray, prayer, praying, prays, interceed, intercession, etc.)

Above all, let's pray! My prayer is that God will use my imperfect transmission of what I have learned to grow mighty prayer warriors for him and begin a revival in our communities and nation. Thanks for following along with this series!