Prayer is our way of being in relationship with God and communicating with Him. Prayer is not something we have to do, is something we get to do, a real privilege to draw near to our Lord.

Prayer reveals what is in our hearts, what our priorities are, what are motives are. We can pray for something and He promises that whatever we ask for in prayer, if we ask according to His Word, and pray in His name, He says He will do it:

Mark 11:24 (New International Version)

24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Prayer is a two-way conversation, we talk to God and we listen to God. We have two ears and one mouth, which means we ought to listen to God twice as much as we talk to Him, here I am preaching especially to myself.

Prayer is not something we do just first thing in the morning, or last thing at night, before or after we have eaten. God is not interested in our long prayers, or in our showing off, He prefers to dialogue with us in our private room throughout the day, which I believe can mean whispering to God all day long and listening to Him any time any place in our hearts.

Matthew 6:5-8 (New International Version)

5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Prayer can be like a background consciousness of His presence going on whether we are at work or at home doing some household chores.

God promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us, and that He wants us to dwell in Him, and He in us. He also promises that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.

Prayer can be a weapon to destroy the schemes of the devil:

Matthew 5:44-45 (New International Version)

44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

We are told to pray for our enemies, and whatever God asks us to do, it would be unfair if He did not also give us the ability to do it. He knows that we can conquer evil with good by using this weapon and He is the One giving us the boldness to do it because apart from Him we can do nothing. Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer with His Father. If He needed it, how much more do we need it? We can also pray for ourselves to not fall into temptation, not to fear and not to worry:

I pray Philippians 4:6-7 for you that you would not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

  1. What is the primary purpose of prayer?
  2. Why does Jesus not approve of long prayers?
  3. Why can prayer be a weapon against evil?