And it shall come to pass, When it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, That he will come to his sanctuary to pray; But he will not prevail. (Isaiah 16:12)
We do define praying as the act of communicating with God. Rightly, we see it as such, yet, because of certain limitations in our understanding, the altar of the prayer of most believers are cold. This reflects itself when it is time to pray. We hear some hiding behind the ‘Hannah wagon’ (those who claim to be praying from their hearts without uttering words just like Hannah did in 1 Samuel 1), some of whom, sincerely are not praying at all.
Praying to Communicate with God
Even still, there are the other who just practice what Jesus calls, ‘vain repetitions’, like idol worshippers doing enchantments, “thinking they’ll be heard according to the many repetitions?” (Matthew 6). There are others also who struggle praying as if it is some kind of ‘job’. However, if praying is communicating with God, then it has to be more than what we have been doing, don’t you think so?
Read: 4 Qualities of a Man that God can Use
Communication involves connections. It involves touching and being touched. It involves sending and receiving of messages or signals. Hence, if praying is communication between man and God, then praying is man’s way of touching God and interacting with Him.
Praying is man’s way of tapping into Divine dimensions and creating an opening for that dimension to find expression in his physical environment. Praying is more powerful than you have known, and more still, it is something you can do as a child of God.
Reasons Praying is Powerful
Here are some of the things praying can do for you:
- A place to pour out your deepest feelings, aches, thoughts, needs, and to off-load any burden in your heart, finding peace and rest. In other words, through praying, we can create a secret place for God and us.
- A place where you can build intimate relationship with God as Father, Friend, Teacher, etc. This means that the more you are spending time talking to Him, the more you are being exposed to the knowledge of Him and building yourself.Â
- Connection to the power to implement and enforce God’s desire in your environment when you are not seeing it. For instance, when I see anything in my life, family, home, friends, business, etc. that does not agree with what I believe is God’s, then through prayer, I have the power to change it and enforce the will of God for life. Do you notice how our opening text connects prayer to prevailing? Yes, we prevail through prayers.
So, the scriptures, in 1 Thess. 5:17 says to pray without ceasing (stopping). That is, always praying. Jesus, in Luke 18 illustrated why men should keep on praying. The art of praying is not just to talk to God alone. It is to create an atmosphere for God to talk to you, for God to reveal His will to you, for you to know Him via His revelations, transformed, and for you to effect change in your environment in a powerful way.Â
If it is something we should do without stopping, then it means that it is something connected to our living. For prayer is like a power plant. As long as it is on, things are alive; the moment it dies, many things will die as well. Isaiah 16:12 as stated above shows us that there exists a possibility where a man can go pray and prevail from the place of prayer.
Today, I set the motion for us. Go into the place of prayer today with a different approach. Now, I come to the Lord God, my Father (Matt. 6:9). Make it personal. Create an atmosphere where you are not restricted by anyone’s doctrine but by the expression of your heart to the only One who can heal it and offload the weight. If prayer is your powerhouse, then keep it running.
Father, ignite a fresh fire for prayer in my heart today and beyond, that will set me ablaze and make me a force to reckon with, in Jesus name, Amen
James Osayande George lives by the mandate to reveal the liberating truth of God’s word in simplicity and accuracy through a cutting edge teaching ministry.
Having been saved at the young age of thirteen (13) years old through a Divine encounter, he has since dedicated himself to know and serve the Lord with his life.
Best known for his calm voice, James George has ministered in full-time ministry since 2014 within which period he served as one-time resident pastor of Glad Tidings Life Triumphant Church, Kaduna State, Nigeria under his spiritual father and mentor, Pastor Moses Enabulele.
A student of the prestigious Kenneth Hagin’s Rhema Bible Training Center, Nigeria, James George is the author and co-author of numerous published and unpublished manuscripts and poems for blogs and magazines, as well as books including Walking through the Word Devotional (a classic all year round devotional book). Your Journey and God is his first published book. He runs a blog at www.thischariot.wordpress.com
He is the pioneer of G. M. M. Network, a body of believers dedicated to church growth, spiritual development, youth, and women empowerment, as well as outreach to the less privileged. He currently resides in and does his ministry from Lagos State, Nigeria
