10/05/2024
THE PRAYER LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN ~ PART ONE
Ephesians 6:18 NLT
[18] Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
> Prayer is communication with God. We do this by praising Him, confessing our sin before Him, thanking Him and asking Him for our needs and desires.
> Prayer is communion with our Creator. When we pray, we engage in loving fellowship with the Maker of heaven and earth.
> Prayer is, for the most part, an untapped resource, an unexplored continent where untold treasure remains to be unearthed.
> It is talked about more than anything else, and practiced less than anything else. And yet, for the believer it remains one of the greatest gift our Lord has given us outside of salvation.
> Paul was somebody who understood prayer and its power. Prayer was a part of Paul's life, and he took it for granted that it would be a part of the life of every Christian.
> You cannot really be a good Christian and not pray, just like you cannot have a good marriage if you don't talk to your wife.
> You can be a Christian and not pray, just like you can be married and not talk to your wife. But in both circumstances you will be miserable.
> Prayer is the pipeline of communication between God and His people, between God and those who love Him.
I. Pray with persistence
> Paul begins by saying, "Devote yourselves to prayer," (NASB) or "Continue earnestly in prayer," (NKJV). In the original language it says, "continue steadfastly in prayer."
> In other words, persistence in prayer is not an option for the Christian it is an order from the Lord Himself.
> Two of the most instructive parables Jesus ever told on prayer, one in Luke 18 and the other in Luke 11, both have to do with being persistent and not giving up in prayer.
> There is a difference between a persistent prayer and a long prayer. A person who is persistent in prayer does not necessarily have to pray for a long time. Persistence means not giving up.
> Some people give up easy, they quit because they say they don't feel like praying, the joy is gone, the feeling is gone. But we are not to live by our feelings but to live by the commandments of our Lord who tells us to pray without ceasing.
> George Muller, known as one of the greatest prayer warriors of all times had this to say about persistence in prayer"
"It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that, in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray."
Be persistent in prayer.
![Philippians 4:13 NKJV[13] I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.Blessed weekend fans Victor Olola](https://img3.photography1000.com/301/344/759759163013442.jpg)
![THE PRAYER LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN ~ PART ONEEphesians 6:18 NLT[18] Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion....](https://img3.photography1000.com/399/015/749992073990151.jpg)
