I believe that if we search our own experiences today we might find that we do not pray enough.  This lack of a prayer life results in our losing many hours of peace and forfeiting many blessings we need from the Lord.  Our lack of a prayer life also result in our taking upon ourselves so many unnecessary burdens that God wants to relieve us of.

     There are a few things I’d like you to keep in mind as it concerns prayer.  First of all, prayer helps us in times of trouble.  Trouble is the one thing that is constant in every life.  The sun may shine brightly in your life for a while, but sooner or later there will be trouble in life.  If we live daily in the atmosphere of prayer, when trouble comes, we will have an easier time because the connection to God is already there.

     Secondly, prayer helps us to find God’s will for our lives.  I believe that God has a plan for every life.  That plan can be found through prayer and full surrender to God.  The truth is, sometimes we pray that God’s will be done but we have already made up our minds how we are going to deal with the situation we face.

     Thirdly, prayer helps us to overcome temptation.  What do so many of us do when temptation comes?  We embrace it instead of flying to God in prayer.  Like David did, when he saw Bathsheba bathing in the courtyard, we look upon the sin and soon we are indulging in it.

Fourthly, Prayer helps us to get better acquainted with Jesus.  When you have a good friend, you want to talk to him.  The more you talk with him, the better you do become acquainted with him.  Jesus is the best Friend man ever had.  You become better acquainted with Him through intimate communion with Him.

Finally, prayer helps us to give good service to Christ.  The great men of the Bible were great, not because of their accomplishments, but because they prayed and they had a close connection to God.

Martin Luther, the founder of the Lutheran Church is quoted to have said, “I have so much to do that I could never accomplish it if I did not spend at least two hours each day in prayer.  Time spent in prayer is never wasted.  You can do so much more after you pray than if you did not pray at all.  So do what the Bible recommends, pray without ceasing.