Day(s) of Prayer...

Thursday May 7th marks the 64th annual National Day of Prayer. Christian's all over the country look to this day as a day to pray for our country and our leaders. While there are good reasons that a prayer emphasis such as this is beneficial, I wonder how many people in our churches ONLY pray for our country and leaders on this day… 

Though we were talking about overall spiritual health the children's message last week gave a great of the example of this -The lesson used the illustration that:

"An apple a week isn't going to cut it if you want to stay healthy, especially if you eat burgers and fries and pizza all the other days of the week. We need to eat several servings of fruits, vegetables, and other healthy choices daily.

The same is true of our spiritual health. It’s not enough to get a serving of God’s Word on Sundays. We need to read our Bibles daily. A little Bible every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, will help us to grow healthy and strong in spirit. And when our spirit is as healthy as our bodies, there’s no limit to how God can use us."

Prayer is a key part of our spiritual health!

We shouldn't ONLY pray once a week, when we need something, or are in crisis. Prayer should be a way of life not a knee jerk response.

Paul’s command in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing,” can be confusing. Obviously, it cannot mean we are to be in a head-bowed, eyes-closed posture all day long. Paul is not referring to non-stop talking, but rather an attitude of God-consciousness and God-surrender that we carry with us all the time. Every waking moment is to be lived in an awareness that God is with us and that He is actively involved and engaged in our thoughts and actions.

For believers, prayer should really should be akin to breathing! You don’t have to think to breathe we are created to breathe, the atmosphere exerts pressure on our lungs and essentially forces us to breathe – in the same way when we are born again, we enter into a spiritual atmosphere where God’s presence and grace exert pressure, or influence, on our lives! Prayer is the normal response to that pressure!

Unfortunately, many believers figuratively hold their spiritual breathe for extended periods of time thinking that they only need occasional gulps of God to allow them to survive. But when we do that we are submitting to sinful desires… The truth of the matter is we must continually be in the presence of God, “without ceasing” to be fully functional…

When we live out this calling in our lives it means that we are not just praying for ourselves, not just praying for a sick or a lost family member or friend, but that we are praying for God’s presence. Praying that his will would be done not just in our life but also in the life of our nation, in the lives of our leaders, in the lives of our Pastors… Praying that God would open (all) our hearts to receive his presence today…

I love the way John Piper used the image that prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom. It exists for advancing the mission, not for calling the butler to turn up the thermostat. Not that God is opposed to practical, nitty-gritty daily prayers. He simply wants all of them to relate to the mission of your life—that his name be glorified, that people live for fruitful ministry.

Don’t just pray on May 7^th this year but pray daily, pray without ceasing, live in constant communion with the Lord!