We are in our season of spiritual emphasis, where we are buying back lost time and prioritizing our spiritual devotion. It’s day 3 and hopefully, you are already feeling the effects and seeing the results of the season. We’ve already established the need to be consistent in prayer.

Matthew 26:36-41

New King James Version

36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.”

37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.

38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?

41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Jesus went to pray and took some of the disciples with him and Jesus walked in on the disciples sleeping. His response was “Couldn’t you not watch with me one hour?” So this was to imply, not that they didn’t pray, but that they didn’t pray enough. Are you praying enough? How effective are the prayers you pray? A huge part of effective prayers is consistent prayers.

Maybe the reason why you don’t pray frequently or as consistently as you are supposed to is because you don’t truly know the effects of prayer done rightly. Maybe you don’t know what prayer means to a believer. It is worthy of note that the Bible instructs us to pray on several occasions:

Luke 18:1

New King James Version

1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

This is, by implication, telling you that if you don’t pray you will faint. You will encounter moments in your life that would require capacity built in the place of prayer. So if you don’t pray you will indeed faint.

I Thessalonians 5:17

New King James Version

17 pray without ceasing,

The Bible says we should pray without ceasing, without stopping. Always pray, keep praying. These are just two of the several scriptures instructing us to pray. When the Bible repeats something this much it means it’s not an instruction to take lightly. Here are a few reasons why you should keep praying:

Prayer projects faith in God: You can’t claim to love God and not pray. In the same way, you can’t claim to be in any relationship and not talk to the person, how much more your Heavenly Father? If you love Him you will communicate with him.

When we pray it’s a sign of humility, we know that we can’t go about this world on our own. We know that we need to connect to our source. Prayer teaches our hearts to acknowledge God as our wellspring. We pray because we know that our lives depend on it. Again, you cannot claim to love God and not pray. Prayer makes a statement of where your allegiances lie. Whom do you serve, and whom do you bow to?

God is our life source and in prayer, we connect to that life source. Hence prayer is like breathing for us, our very lives depend on it.

Romans 12:12

New International Version

12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

We are to be faithful in prayer because a man faithful in prayer is a man whose heart is yielded to God, a man that God can persuade. A man who is ready to do the will of God.

Prayer strengthens us and prepares us: Using Jesus as an example, the Bible says:

Matthew 4:1-2

New King James Version

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

Before beginning His earthly ministry, Jesus took out 40 days and nights to fast and pray.

Luke 22:41-44

New King James Version

41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,

42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.

44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Before his crucifixion, he took time to pray (some estimate it was 3 hours). And even in a time where seemingly his flesh was weak, he prayed and he gained strength to face what he knew he had to. Just from looking at the life of Jesus, you can tell that there is something about prayer that strengthens and prepares us for what God would have us do. In the place of prayer, our strength reserves are renewed and just like Jesus, when it seems our flesh wants to poke its head in the place of prayer we can realign ourselves.

I Corinthians 14:4

New King James Version

4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.

One effect of praying, especially in the Spirit, is that it edifies us, it builds us up. The same way in construction you lay one brick upon the other till you build a giant edifice, when you pray you lay brick upon brick till you rise as a strong edifice. As you pray you gain the capacity to take on every task the Lord would have you do.

Isaiah 40:31

New King James Version

31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

“They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength”. Expect that as you wait on God in fasting and prayer you increase in strength!

It’s the last days:

II Timothy 3:1-6

New King James Version

1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:

2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,

4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,

The Bible describes people who have an appearance of godliness but are not truly men who follow God. These men are slandered, unholy, unforgiving etc. The Bible instructs us to stay away from such people and to even discern such people we must pray! We must pray to not fall prey to such ones.

Matthew 24:12

New King James Version

12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

In the last days, the Bible says the love of many will wax cold, and as much as we believers will do our best to reach as many lost with the Word of truth. We must also pray for the world because their hearts must be willing to receive it. We must pray for ourselves (that is the church) to stand strong even in the face of persecution because believe me, persecution will come and is already here. We must pray that the hearts of men would not be carried away by deceivers and tricksters because such people increase by the day.

Prayer is our lifeline. Without it, we are deficient in every sense. In this time build a solid prayer culture, one that would sustain you in the days to come because remember our very lives depend on it.

Pray Point:

As I pray, I recognize God as my source and acknowledge my need for him, I build strength and capacity for all God would have me do especially in these last days.