Friday Night Devotional by David Chow, 4/1/2016
Penned in his famous booklet, “A Call To Prayer,” J.C. Ryle asks the reader again and again three simple words, “DO YOU PRAY?” He goes on to emphasize the importance of prayer as absolutely needful to a man’s salvation, as one of the surest marks of a true Christian, as a source of great encouragement, as the secret of eminent holiness, and as one of the best means of happiness and contentment. He also states that there is no spiritual activity more neglected than prayer and to neglect it is one great cause of spiritual backsliding. If prayer is so important to the Christian life, then stop and ask yourself the question, DO YOU PRAY?
What is prayer? Wayne Grudem explains prayer as “personal communication with God, corporate or individual.” But don’t be mistaken and think prayer is simply a couple of sentences before a meal or before we sleep, or a short plea before that midterm or final. Prayer is much more than that; prayer is an essential part of our relationship with Christ.
As I think about my day to day life, I often realize that I don’t think prayer is as important as I ought. Prayer ought to be a priority in our life, for even Jesus work up early and prayed before each day of ministry (Mark 1:35). Prayer ought to precede our evangelism as we pray “that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ (Col 4:3). Prayer ought to be ceaseless and for all people in our lives (1 Thess, 1 Tim 2). Prayer ought to be rooted in God’s Word and be soundly worshipful, personally humbling, Christ exalting, and Kingdom minded (Matt 6). We ought to be in deep prayer each time we approach the throne of grace (Heb 4:16).
May we be Christians characterized by prayer and showered in prayer and joyously dependent in prayer. So I beg to ask again – DO YOU PRAY?
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