An Incredibly Important
Element of Our Faith
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to
you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9
Do you
pray? In J.C. Ryle’s small but important book, A Call to Prayer, he
challenges readers with this simple question. Ryle asserts “there is no duty in
religion so neglected as private prayer.” I’m sure many of us would agree; of
all the spiritual disciplines, prayer is often the hardest habit to form and
one that is most quickly broken. However, we should strive to pray often,
because prayer is an incredibly important element of our faith.
Here are a few
reasons Ryle gives for why prayer is so important:
1. A habit of
prayer is one of the surest marks of a true Christian. The greatest heroes and heroines of the
Bible often shared a similar attribute- they were men and women of prayer. To
take your frustrations, challenges, joys, hopes and dreams to God on a regular
basis requires a great deal of faith - you are essentially relinquishing control
and telling God, “I trust you will work on my behalf in this situation.” Do you
have this kind of faith? Do you pray?
2. A habit of
prayer brings great encouragement to the one who prays. In the Bible, we see that prayer moved God
to raise the dead, heal the sick, save souls, draw water from a rock and send
bread from heaven. Prayer even made the sun stand still! The fact that prayer
moves God to action should be a great encouragement to us. Are you encouraged
by God’s provision and power? Do you pray?
3. A habit of
prayer creates holy men and women. The more we seek God out in prayer, the more our hearts are aligned
with what God desires for us and we become holier men and women in the process.
Are you growing closer to God? Do you pray?
4. If we do not
pray, we run the risk of backsliding in our faith. Let’s be clear - Ryle doesn’t mean we should
fear losing our salvation. However, without prayer we run the risk of becoming
stagnate in our faith, if not falling back into sinful habits and temptations
we had once overcome through prayer. When a relationship turns sour, often a
main cause is poor communication. So too with us and God. Do you feel stagnate
in your faith or distant from God? Do you pray?
5. A habit of
prayer brings peace and contentment. We live in a sin-filled world. Sorrows and troubles abound. So how do
we combat sadness, disappointments, fears, slanders, and hurt? When we cry out
to our Father, he offers us peace that transcends our understanding. This is
one of the richest blessings of our faith. Are you experiencing this
blessing? Do you pray?
Intersecting
Faith and Life: Ryle says, “In every journey there must be a first
step.” If you desire to become a more prayerful person, take time today and go
somewhere quiet, shut the door and pray aloud that God would give you the grace
and strength you need to develop a habit of prayer. Then be encouraged- God
greatly desires you to be in regular prayer with him- if we ask, seek and
knock, he will open the door for us to a richer prayer life.
