A year ago, while I was debating about whether or not to go on the World Race, I confessed that God and I didn’t talk very much. And it was true. Prayer was always a struggle for me. I have always loved worship, and reading the Bible came easily to me. But when it came time to pray, I got distracted or fell asleep.
For the past three months, I have been learning a lot about prayer.
· When discussing the armor of God, I was always told that we got one offensive weapon- the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. But immediately after mentioning this, the Bible commands us to pray.
Life is a battle, and while we do not fight using our strength alone, there is a war going on between the powers of light and darkness. I have never seen it quite so strongly as here in Africa, where we hear of and witness witchcraft regularly.
Prayer is our weapon of choice for combatting the attacks of the enemy.
· Being a Christian means having a relationship with God. In any relationship, communication is key.
Imagine if your spouse or best friend only came to you when he or she wanted something out of you! Imagine a relationship where only one person did all of the talking! Sadly, this is how many of us are with God.
God wants us to talk to Him, not only when we need something or are in trouble. He wants us to listen to His voice as well.
Prayer is how we commune with God.
· Recently I listened to a sermon about something called crafted prayer. These are written prayers about different topics that are prayed regularly until something happens. The neat thing about them is they are heavily based in scripture. If you are praying God’s Word, you are already praying things that are in His will and you no longer have to doubt and tack on clauses like “if it be your will” in your prayers.
Prayer is listening to and seeking the will of God.
