Prayer Is So Much More

Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God.
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward
    on a firm footing.
Psalm 143:10, NLT

Prayer releases us to ministry--the kind of relational prayer that makes us one with God makes us one with Him in ministry and releases us to minister in His power and strength.

Be strong and courageous!" God says. An impossible command without His Spirit--without being in communication with God. But with the Spirit and prayer, that strength and courage is given as a gift from God.

Look at the disciples. The night of Jesus' arrest, cowering in the dark, denying their association with Him, falling asleep instead of praying. After receiving the Holy Spirit, they spoke with power and lived out lives that revealed God.

We too often relegate prayer to the level of a chore, an obligation, or a wish list, and those are not what it is meant to be. It is our lifeline to our First Love. It is our opportunity to commune with our Heavenly Father. It is a time of intimacy where God ministers to us and we experience Him in relationship.

Our two most important real LIFE lines are prayer and the Bible. They should be the most exciting, amazing experiences in our lives, and we are lulled into the deception that they are boring, lifeless, or out-dated.

Lord, break through the lies of the enemy that we have accepted. Help us to understand the TRUTH and LIFE found in Your word and prayer daily.

They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Mark 14:32-38, NLT