The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and rescues them from all their troubles.
Psalm 34:17
Is prayer necessary? We serve a sovereign, all-powerful God, so does He really need our involvement to accomplish His will on earth?
E.M. Bounds, author of eleven books on prayer, including Power Through Prayer (1912) and The Weapon of Prayer (1931), said, “God shapes the world by prayer. The more praying there is in the world, the better the world will be, the mightier forces against evil…The prayers of God’s saints are the capital stock of heaven by which God carries on His great work upon earth. God conditions the very life and prosperity of His cause on prayer.”
God tells us in Matthew 6:11 that we should ask for our daily bread, yet He knows our needs before we even ask. The apostle Paul urges believers in 2 Thessalonians 3:1 to “…pray for us that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored…” Wasn’t God already planning to do this?
Scripture clearly tells us that God expects us to be a part of His purposes on earth through the power of our prayers.
Our pastor often tells us, “A praying church is a healthy church.” We have seen the body in our church grow over the last several months. This is exciting and encouraging, but we also need to be aware that as we become a stronger force for the good the Lord desires in our community, we also become a target for the enemy.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, and against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.”—Ephesians 6:12
Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons.
A priority for every follower of Jesus Christ should be a healthy, active prayer life. That may seem intimidating if we feel inadequate in this discipline—and it is a discipline. We cannot grow if we do not use our prayer muscle. According to James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, you are made righteous by His blood. Ergo, your prayers are powerful, effective, and necessary.
Billy Graham has been quoted as saying that “heaven is full of answers to prayer for which no one bothered to ask.”
Every prayer matters.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the privilege of being able to come to You, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, and partner with You in Your work here on earth. We thank You for Your love, grace, and mercy on us, even as we sometimes fail to put You and Your desires above our own. We ask that we be led by the presence of Your Holy Spirit in our daily prayers, and that our desires be shaped by Yours, so our prayers are in alignment with Your will.
