Have you ever tried to run a long distance with all the right gear, but without the proper training? No matter how much support your shoes provide or the type of clothes that you wear, only proper and consistent training can expand your lungs and heart to stay in the race.
This is much like our faith life.
We may have the Armor of God, but without proper conditioning, we lack the breath and the persistence in order to stay in the fight.
Prayer is life-giving; it’s breathing in the breath of God.
Prayer employs and empowers the Armor of God. Hence, in order to stand firm, be strong and resist the evil one, we must learn to pray.
Apostle Paul in Ephesians writes that we should pray all the time.
“Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”
— Ephesians 6:18
This might seem daunting, but according to a recent study, the average American sends roughly 100 messages a day. We have no problem staying connected to people—it’s simply a matter of whether we want to.
When do we pray?
The chart below is an example of how we can pray all day.
Between meals, the daily offices or prayer times, we can be worshipping or praying in tongues.
Who do we pray for?
And as we pray all the time, we pray for “all the saints.”
We learn to pray for ourselves, our tribe and our nation, and the world. But we also need to pray for our leaders and our pastors.
Even Apostle Paul, arguably one of the greatest apostles of all time, humbly asked for prayer when he said, “… pray also for me.”
When we pray, we pray for these three things:
- To be Awake | To see and live in God
- To be Alive | To hear and respond to God
- To be Ambassadors | To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively
It takes practice and intention to build this discipline of prayer. Just like it takes time to train for a marathon. It doesn’t happen overnight. If you find it difficult to pray, try worshipping first.
Worship Prayer reminds us that God is good, just and holy.
“When we come into the presence of God in prayer, something leads us to worship, and it seems worshipping God automatically moves us to pray.”
— Dr. Mary Kate Morse
Worshipping God bends us toward Him in prayer and vice versa. Let’s be known as a body that prays constantly.
You can listen to the sermon Pray, Pray, Pray from the Ephesians series that inspired this post here.
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See below for a list of prayers we’ve written for the body.
Drawing Near to God Prayer Book (PDF)
Prayers you can listen to:
Resources to help you pray:
24 different types of prayer outlined by Dr. Morse from her book, A Guidebook to Prayer: 24 Ways to Walk with God