Focus: Keep Praying!

Text: Eph.6:18

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."

Whether it looks like it or not, the fact remains that God answers prayers. God who says, 'Pray to me,' also says, 'And I will hear you when you call.' 

Interestingly, prayer is not limited to any season. It is a guaranteed way of communing and communicating with God, and it is an all-time spiritual exercise. The Scripture says, "Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven" (2Chron.30:27). Our prayer ascends to the throne-room of heaven where God dwells. Our prayer arrives at God's heavenly home via the flight of faith piloted by the Holy Spirit.

Paul, in Eph.6, gives us a list of the whole armor of God, and he caps it all up by telling us to "pray with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…," and that tells us that the weapons are powerful through prayer. We soak the armor in prayer. 

In the place of prayer we keep the communication lines open with our Commander in-Chief, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the place of prayer our military general keeps us informed, updated, motivated, and galvanized.

Prayer is a continuous practice. We pray at all times and in all places. Jesus Christ says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened" (Mt.7:7,8). Prayer is not something we do once in a while or whenever we feel like. It is not something we do at our convenient time. From the Greek tense of the Matthew 7 text, Christ is saying, 'Ask, and keep asking. Seek, and keep seeking. Knock, and keep knocking.' Christ is demanding that we be intentional, persistent and persevering in prayer. In the next verse, Christ assures us of our prayer's efficacy. We will succeed in our asking, seeking and knocking.

Prayer is designed by God for all seasons. There's no season of life in which prayer is not necessary. It is an all-time weapon. It goes up to heaven, and it works wonders.

God answers prayers. He doesn't always answer to the letter of our prayer, but He always answers to the spirit of it. In His right timing He meets our needs and satisfies our wants. What is most important is that God works changes in us through our prayers. The more we pray, the more we are changed from within us. 

God dislodges Satan and neutralizes his plots through our prayers.

God would not ask us to pray if He's not willing to answer our prayers. Conversely, Satan knows he can't stop God from answering our prayers, and so he does everything in his power to stop us from praying. Satan knows that if no prayer is made to God by us, then no answer is to expected from God by us.

Christ commands us to pray and keep praying. When we feel discouraged, we must keep praying. When we face life's issues, we must keep praying. When life gets tough and rough, we must keep praying. When we don't understand anything anymore, we must keep praying. When we face moments of toughest decisions, we must keep praying. When our lives hit the bottom, we find out that prayer is always our never-failing resort.

When we pray, Satan is terrified, God is glorified, and we are edified. So keep praying. John Bunyan said that "prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for the devil." Let your prayers keep ascending to the dwelling place of God, which is in heaven.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter