Discipline of Prayer

Happy Sunday. I know the answer before I ask the question. Have you ever been too tired to pray, too busy to pray? I think there are times when we've all been that way.

Have you ever told someone that you would pray for them and then, well, you forgot about it? We must use spiritual discipline in our prayer lives to be as effective as we can possibly be. Have you ever known anyone who prayed too much? I doubt it.

First Thessalonians 5:17 gives us a lofty goal. Pray without ceasing. That means always having the attitude of prayer. Always.

Praying is truly a discipline, a holy habit that must be practiced. Jesus was a prayer warrior. Look what happens right after he heals a leper. I'll read from Luke 5:15 and 16.

After that great healing, it says, "But now more than ever, the word about Jesus spread abroad. Many crowds were gathering to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. Meanwhile, he would slip away to deserted places and pray." It seems the busier that Jesus got, the more he prayed.

I love this quote about prayer. It is one thing to read scripture because we get the instant benefit of knowledge and insight. But prayer is one of those things which require faith. We are praying to someone we cannot see and expecting an answer that we cannot control.

It does take faith and some people don't have enough to even try. FB Meyer said, "The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer." I love this example. You cannot be a growing Christian and not pray.

Just like you cannot have a growing marriage if you don't talk to your spouse. You can be a Christian and really not pray. Just like you can be married and not talk to your partner. In both circumstances, your relationship will be stagnant and you'll never know the full benefit of your union.

From midepptember to mid November 2022, I did a series on the Lord's Prayer. You can find those sermons on my website, davidshivers.com. Go to the tab marked sermons, and you'll easily find that study. I want to read that prayer to you right now from Luke 11.

We're just going to make one quick observation. We're not going to break the prayer down. But again, look at those sermons from 20:22. In Luke 11, we we read, "Jesus was praying in a certain place."

And after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. So Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say, 'Father, may your name be revered as holy. May your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us and do not bring us to the time of trial.

It's interesting to me the question that the disciple asked in verse one. Lord teach us to pray. The disciple didn't ask teach us to preach or teach us to heal. They said teach us to pray.

The disciples knew that everything else flowed from prayer. We should know that too. Prayer should not only be the bolt to the night. It should be the key to our mornings.

Sadly, according to national surveys, Christians pray an average of five minutes a day. Five minutes. We spend more time than that in the shower. Martin Luther once said, "As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray."

And that's the truth. 5 minutes a day will accomplish very little. It's far from praying without ceasing. If you want a spiritual discipline that will change your life, prayer is it.

Now, here's some helpful hints. Keep a prayer journal and use it often. Set aside time alone with God every day. Set an alarm to remind you to pray.

Get a prayer partner. Get organized. Praying with dis with discipline will change your world. If we each did as we should, it would change the entire world.

Pray with me. Father, I pray for the prayer warriors watching this. I pray that you would pour fuel on our fires. We have so many to pray for.

Thank you for that privilege. Thank you for hearing our prayers. Make us want to help us to change this world in Jesus name. Amen.

God bless. Thanks for watching today.