MAKE PRAYER A LIFESTYLE – Pastor Chris
MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 2022
In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out (Ephesians 6:18 MSG).
Giving time to prayer is very important. There’re times and certain situations that don’t require you to pray for a protracted period. There’re other times and situations that require importunity, heartfelt continuity in prayer. Both are very important, depending on what you’re dealing with. But the bottom line is that as a Christian, prayer must be a lifestyle.
The reason for prayer isn’t to convince God that you’re really serious about your objective for praying. Rather, it’s about what spending time in fellowship with Him does in your spirit. Give your best times, your most productive moments, to praying. Try not to be in a hurry during your prayer times, because sometimes, even when you think you’re done praying, the Holy Spirit might still want you to continue. He may bring words to you with which to pray. Remember, He has a ministry in our lives; He’s the One who teaches us how to pray.
When we pray, we don’t always know everything we’re supposed to say about certain situations. But God, through the Holy Spirit, teaches us what to say and how to pray correctly and effectively. That’s why giving time and attention in prayer is important. Give attention to praying in tongues; don’t be distracted.
When it’s time to pray, have the discipline to keep everything else aside. The more other things try to distract you, the more you should focus and keep praying. Let your spirit receive that discipline; then, you’ll achieve the primary purpose of prayer, which is the conditioning of your spirit and mind until God’s thoughts become your thoughts, and His words become your words. The specific, creative word on your lips that the Spirit brings to you at such moments of prayer produces result.
Few minutes of prayer isn’t sufficient to condition your spirit. You need to give God time and attention. In prayer, certain things are done to you and in you by the Holy Spirit; you’re so conditioned and transfigured that your way of talking, your choice of words, your character and behaviour are affected. Make yourself available for that conditioning to take place as you make prayer a lifestyle.
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PRAYER:
Dear Father, thank you for the privilege of fellowship with you through the Spirit in prayer. Thank you for the privilege to side with you and enforce your will in the earth and exercise dominion over circumstances, Satan and his cohorts of darkness, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
1 Corinthians 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Jeremiah 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Matthew 3 & Genesis 6-8
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Acts 6:9-15 & Nehemiah 6
