For many of us who have experienced romantic love, we can say it would be very unusual to love someone and not speak to them. Or perhaps you only speak to them when you want something. The idea is that when you love someone, you will talk to them as often as possible. 

In this same vein, if we claim to love the Lord, we should use every opportunity and means available to talk to Him. Just as it is unusual to see people who love each other without communicating, it is equally unusual to find a believer who does not pray.

An important rule while studying the Bible is the law of emphatic mention, which means when a subject is explained in multiple places it should be emphasized.  The Bible mentions prayer over 650 times, that is enough to let anyone know that is a subject matter to take seriously. 

In various scriptures, we see either examples of men given to prayer or calls for us to give ourselves to prayer; and all of these allude to the importance of prayer in the life of a believer.

1 Thessalonians 5:17
New King James Version

17 pray without ceasing, 

This is a verse you’ve read and recited multiple times with ease, but have you sat down to truly think and meditate on what it says? It says “pray without ceasing”, meaning pray uninterruptedly, without omission. 

To properly understand what this verse says, you need to realize that the only thing you do without ceasing is breathing. Breathing is such an essential activity necessary to keep us alive. 

So based on that logic, this scripture means that prayer is as important in the life of a believer believers just as breathing is to us as humans. Daniel understood this concept so even when the king had put a decree against praying to any other god, he didn’t let that stop his devotion. 

Daniel 6:10
New King James Version
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.

Regardless of what the decree said, he still went to his room and prayed. And this scripture said “as was his custom” meaning it was a daily affair. It was how he lived his life, and he understood what prayer meant for him and did in him. What prayer supplies in you is as necessary as oxygen is to the natural man. 

This is why even though Jesus was God made manifest in the flesh, He still gave Himself to times of prayer. One might think, “Jesus is God, surely He doesn’t need to pray,” Yet, we see the Bible replete with different situations and times where we see Jesus separate Himself to pray, from the start of His ministry even up until the end.

Luke 5:16
New King James Version
16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. 

See the term used there; “often.” It was His custom, His habit, His life to go into the wilderness and pray. No matter how busy He was, no matter how capable He felt, He still prayed.

Luke 22:41
New King James Version
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 

In the context of this scripture, Jesus was about to be crucified, but here was His response: prayer.
He prayed the cup should pass over Him yet not His will but the Lord’s be done, and what happened after that time of prayer was that He was strengthened and He was able to say to His disciples “Come, let’s go. For the time is at hand”. 

So in the place of prayer, He was able to align Himself to the will of God. Though He went in there overwhelmed, after He spent time praying, His mind was shifted to accommodate and receive the will of God for His life. 

What is that thing God has asked you to do that feels weighty or too difficult to accomplish? 
Have you carried it to the place of prayer? 
Have you stayed enough in prayer to be strengthened for the work?

As you read through these scriptures, you must see an example in Jesus for your life and a pattern that has been set that you should follow. Jesus was a man of prayer and the same should be said of you too; because a man of prayer is a man aligned to the will of God and is a man God can use.

Men that were used by God in scriptures were men of prayer. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, from the prophets to the apostles, you see men who gave themselves to prayer and communication with God. 

This was the testimony of the apostles and the early church,  they continued steadfastly in prayer as you would see in Acts 2:42 which says “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

They continued steadfastly in all they had been taught by the apostles and in prayer! This shows that the apostles were men of prayer and they taught their disciples about prayer also. 

The Bible says in:

Acts 3:1
New King James Version
1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 

This shows that they had a set hour every day to go and pray. These were men God used, men of prayer. And it wasn’t just about them having a life of prayer; they also exhorted us as believers to have one as well. 

Romans 12:12
New King James Version  
12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 

These are calls for you as a believer to continue steadfastly in prayer, to pray without relenting. You must remember to pray without ceasing and in every season. Before you take a step towards any task, you first pray, and even after you get an instruction, you pray still. 

Let this be your life, that you are a man of prayer. That prayer is as important to you as breathing and you allow it to supply what it needs to in your life. 

In this year where God emphasizes the need for discipleship and consecration, you need to build a life of prayer to allow all God will do in and through you to come to fruition. 

Prayer Point
I declare that I am a man of prayer.  From right now and beyond, I understand the importance of prayer in my life, and I give myself to prayer. At every moment and in every situation, I submit myself to consistency in prayer and all it does in me.