Song:

I just want to be where you are,
dwelling daily in your presence,
I don’t want to worship from afar draw me near to where you are.

Introduction:

I would like to begin by asking this question:

Is it more important to you to ‘say prayers’ or to pray?

I have heard people say: ‘I have not said my prayers today’, rather than say: ‘I have not prayed today’, We some times often say prayers because we see it as a routine and almost always so that people around us will know that we’re praying.

“But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” (Matthew 6:6). Inner room should not be taken literally; it simply means your heart and mind. That is let your prayers come from your inner heart and mind and not just from the lips. So you can pray both in the public and private and still be in the ‘inner room’ just as you can be inside your room and still pray from the lip like hypocrites.

Prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God.

St Theresa of Avila described prayer as: ‘A surge of heart and simple look towards heaven.’

So we can pray anywhere, anytime and use any language. Christ does not in any way condemn our traditional way and forms of prayer – rosary, novenas, going to the Blessed Sacrament but what he’s simply telling us is that we should pray in faith. And also be spontaneous in our prayers.

So it is not that I have not said my prayers today but that I have not prayed today. Just like sacrament is an outward sign of inward grace.

The prayer Life of Jesus

1. “After he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,”, that was after feeding Five Thousand disciples [Matthew 14:13-21]. Matthew 14:22–23, Luke 5:15-16 . CROWDS!!!

Likewise, we need to set boundaries that will give us times of solitude with the Father. Today we so much crowds [needs to be met, endless task lists, TVs, Computers, mobile phones, all the ipods/iphone/ipads, huge family responsibilities] around us

We cannot live a Christian life in this world, without the strength that comes from being in the presence of our God. Nor can we minister effectively without time spent at His feet, garnering His instruction and ministerial insight.

2. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35.

Spending time alone with God is a solid response to the realisation that without His strength and leading, we will soon become empty vessels of no benefit to those who need His touch. Spend quality time in prayer.

3. “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” Luke 6:12. NIGHT VIGIL!!! In this passage, Jesus proceeded from a night of prayer to the choosing of twelve disciples that He wanted to be with Him (Luke 6:13; Mark 3:13-14). He did this because he wanted to choose the twelve apostles. Is there a big decision you have to make? Is there a problem for which we need an answer or direction? Perhaps an extended period of solitude with the Father will provide the needed resolution. We should make time to inquire of God and spend time with Him alone. He will communicate with us! The Lord will not keep any secrets from you Genesis 18:17. Just imagine what would have happened if he had not prayed before choosing the apostles? Because even with prayers, Judas Iscariot still betrayed him. We have seen the self-centredness of James and John from the request of their mother. We saw how Peter betrayed him. So prayer can also give us the strength and grace we need to face difficulties if we must for some reason.

4. In [ Matthew 26:36-56, Mark 14:32-52, Luke 22:39-53, John 18:1-11 ] we see where Jesus took Peter, James and John to Gethsemane to pray in preparation for his arrest, unjust trial, suffering and crucifixion. But the disciples slept all through. Eventually when he was arrested, the only thing Peter could do was to use the sword to chop off the high priest’s servant’s ear. But listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 26:52-54 [John 18:10-11].

Little wonder because of lack of prayers we often resort to physical confrontation or violence and even take rash decision. No wonder Paul said: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” ( 2 Corinthians 10:4 ).

Conclusion

Prayer is very important and we should know that in prayer we are talking to God who is our father and friend. Jesus said: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15).

Your prayer life depends on what ministry the Lord has given you and of course how far you want him to use you. Do you want to go the extra mile? Do you want to do exploit in his name? Yes you can; your prayers can influence situations!

One of the most basic of spiritual facts in both time and space is: that 'Nothing is impossible with God.' Problems which appear insoluble to us, Jehovah the God of Israel can easily set right - if He so chooses. The difficulty is that we humans lack the knowledge, faith and wisdom to accept this fundamental fact.

Paul and Silas prayed (Acts 16:19-40) and the prison opened and their chains loosened.

Prayer and fasting

"This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." Mark 9:29 .

Finally you need to study the scriptures in order to be able to pray properly. In it you know what God says concerning any situations you face in life.

Shalom!

Rev. JB Oseh