The Precious Gift of Prayer

Do you know that prayer is a gift God has given you? Prayer is what opens the floodgates of heaven so that God’s anointing can flow in and through your life.

You have probably said or heard people say that we need to be like Jesus. Why? Because being like Jesus is the result of God within us. Everything wonderful comes from him, is through him, and is ultimately to him. Romans 11:36

As I read the Gospels, I am moved with awe and feel increasingly endeared to Jesus! The Gospels record Jesus often retreating to quiet places to spend intimate time with His Father. Oh, how I would love to have been there to hear his intimate words with his Father!

Luke 5:16  But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

When studying the life of Jesus, it is essential to note that though he was fully God, he was also fully man. (Jn 1:1,14) So, the question is raised, if he was fully God, why did he need to go pray? Why did he need to spend time with the Father? What was he pursuing that he did not already have?

I believe the most important reason that Jesus spent special time with his Father was because of his love for him! The longest prayer of Jesus recorded in the Bible is in John 17. In this prayer, Jesus repeatedly spoke to his Father about his desire for love and unity. This prayer reveals that one of Jesus’ greatest longings was for God’s love to be made known on this earth and for people to be unified with him and his Father!

Secondly, though Jesus was God, he was living in human flesh that had a propensity toward sin and weakness. Jesus needed the power and strength that could only come from God and his Holy Spirit. Yes – Jesus needed help!

Hebrews 5:7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

We also know that Jesus’ times of prayer caused him to hear from his Father so that he could say and do his Father’s will.

John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does.

If Jesus needed to spend time with God the Father, how much more you and me? Jesus stayed strong because of the time he spent with his Father, and this was the secret to his character, wisdom, and power.

Though some have turned prayer into a complicated formula, be assured that prayer is natural conversation that the Holy Spirit empowers within you. God speaks, and you listen – you speak, and God listens. It is important to note that effective prayer is more about listening than it is about talking.

One of the greatest secrets to prayer is found in Hebrews 11:6, which says, “And without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

1. We must come to him. 2. We must believe that he exists. 3. We must believe that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

If we must come to God, where is he? Oh yes, this is a crucial question. He is all around you, within you, and, at the same time, a trillion light-years in every direction. There is nothing that exists without him holding it together at all times. God is unseen and all-consuming. He has given you the ability to recognize the unseen so that you can experience him where he is. Your experience of God through prayer taps you into the power that holds the universe together! Wow! Yes, God wants you to know and believe that he will reward you if you pursue Him in that unseen realm with a believing and earnest heart.

My dearest friend, God longs to spend time with you and to equip you with the same power and anointing he gave Jesus. Right now, he is ready and anxiously waiting to spend time with you! I am praying today that you, like Jesus, will use the incredible gift God has given you…

The Precious Gift of Prayer