Why you must pray. This is not a question and should never be asked by a Christian. We should be able to affirm the statement. Prayer is as old as creation. Adam and Eve talked with God and that is what prayer is. Adam walked by sight before sin; after that it was by faith and that’s what we do now. Abel talked to God by faith. Noah talked to God and found grace. I’ll read verse 1 and 8 of Luke 18. In between these verses is the parable.
Luke 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Jesus had just finished what we read in chapter 17 about the end times. It said worldwide chaos would happen and we’re seeing it. What do we do then? Jesus went immediately into this parable. He wasn’t changing the topic. He said we ought always to pray and not to faint. Is there any time we can’t or shouldn’t pray? When we think of what we neglect, I’m afraid my cash register rings me up short because I forget to pray. We can always pray, when we drive, eat, or whatever we do. God answers. In time we understand. So pray and don’t lose heart. Don’t give up. So many of our people are afflicted and can’t come to church. Many here are suffering as well. Time praying is not wasted time. It should be a part of our day all day long.
In this part of the country there are dead zones for cell phones. A cell phone gives you the ability to contact others as long as there is service. Before cells you had to make a call at home and the person you called had to be at home. Prayer is like having a cell phone with no dead zones; it always works and is always available. I can’t text but we have the text of the Word of God.
Understand this: when we consider Jesus is still on the same subject in verse 8 we see that faith and prayer are inseparable. Prayer is the lifeblood of faith and faith of prayer. One doesn’t exist very well without the other. It’s hard to look in this world today and believe that Christians are praying as we should. Satanic forces are working to undermine people’s faith in God and the Bible. The world loves rituals and the devil doesn’t care how many prayers you repeat as long as you don’t really pray. He gets worried when he sees us really trust the Lord.
We’ve all felt faint before, like we’re going to pass out. When we don’t talk to God as we should our faith gets weak. When faith gets weak our prayer life suffers. We don’t have to quit praying. Even if the government takes away the Bible we are to hide it in our heart. You could go blind and not be able to read the Bible; hide it in your heart. Too many are counting on us to pray for them. We can’t stop for other’s sake or our own.
Why you must pray. Setting aside that God answers our prayers we can agree that the more we pray, the better we feel. The more we pray, the happier we are. The more we pray, the more victory we have. Prayer gives us victory over temptation and helps deliver us from trouble. Bad things will happen but face them with prayer. David knew he’d walk through the valley of the shadow of death but he knew God would be with him.
Pray or give up? Pray or faint? There is a choice. Jesus said choose to pray.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 