A Conviction Concerning Prayer

Good Morning,

Psalm 55:16-17, "As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.  [17] Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice."

Without a doubt David was a man of prayer.  He often found himself in difficult places, which drove him to cry out to the Lord, but I believe he was simply a man of prayer.  He states as much when he says, "As for me, I will call upon God..."  He developed a schedule that included times of prayer.  "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud and he shall hear my voice."  He had a conviction that prayer changes things.  "...I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me."

Are you a man or woman of prayer?  According to Barna and other research groups, the average Christian spends 3-7 minutes daily in prayer, other research showed anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes a week or a little over 4 minutes a day. The greatest amount of time said that the average was 15 minutes and that was across all religions including those who have set times and mandatory prayer.  Is this not a sad reality?  What are we missing out on?  Let me tell you, we are missing out on God's power and not realizing His presence and desire for us.  

I am trying to engage our church family in times of consistent, heart felt prayer.  Why?  Because I desire to see God's power in what we do.  It is still in the book, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16b)  It might help if we began to schedule some times in prayer:  "Evening, and morning, and at noon..."

Spend some extra time with God in prayer, and experience His power in your life.

Your friend,

-- 

Pastor Mike Abbott