A Conviction Concerning Prayer
Psalm 55:16-17, "As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. 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, heartfelt 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 and HIS,
Pastor Abbott
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1. How would you evaluate your prayer life? Be honest?
2. What are some ways you could enhance your prayer life?
3. What disciplines do you feel are necessary to have a productive prayer life?