Prayer is an essential part of our Christian and in almost all other religions. It is a spiritual exercise that connects us to God given the right circumstances. It is a way of communicating with God which is done either in thought, word or through our deeds. A life of prayer means a life of communion with God in righteousness, obedience and humility. Prayer requires spiritual alertness to our circumstances and situations hence we have to be spiritually watchful.
Our biblical injunction
Jesus said in Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38; and Luke 21:36, watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. In these references, Jesus advocates the need to embrace the inseparable culture of prayer as essential to Christian life. He eviscerates prayer as a weapon against yielding to temptation. In other words it is by prayer that we can defeat the attractions of sin. To the extent that we do not even know our environment or circumstances, we must heed to Jesus’ call on us to watch and pray.
We cannot overcome sin without prayer. 1 Corinthians 10: 12 says therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. Ephesians 6:12 says we are not contending against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and rulers of darkness and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. In Matthew 4: 2 Jesus himself devoted to prayer and fasting forty days and nights before he began his ministry. Throughout his life, he devoted to prayer at the least opportunity. How watchful and prayerful are we as God’s children?
Jesus also highlights weakness of the body as one of the obstructions to watching and praying. We are unable to pray when we are tired or worn out. In tiredness, we lose our strength, concentration, energy or vitality and sometimes the zeal to pray however willing or motivated we may be. The clue from Jesus is that it is effective to pray when the flesh is not weak but strong. Unfortunately for us, we rather pray when we are either rushing out or retiring to bed after a hard day’s work so we most likely lose focus and succumb to the weakness of the flesh. God needs our best times to be exclusive with him alone.
Jesus’ disappointment
We disappoint God when we fail to watch and pray as he has instructed us to do in spite of his caution to us. In Matthew 26:45 Jesus said, so you could not watch with me one hour? To Jesus, an hour of prayer is not much when we cultivate a prayerful attitude to spend just an hour out of the twenty-four hours in a day with him. That holy hour could be spent with God by prayer, supplication, thanksgiving, reading the bible, meditating on the word and any other worthy encounter with Jesus Christ.
Philippians 4:6-7 say have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. Prayer must be effective and it must not be predicated on how long we devote to prayer but the substance of prayer time and the state of the heart with Jesus Christ. In every moment of our lives, our lives should be one of prayer, that is to say it must be in communion with God. It is written in Luke 22:40, 46 watch and pray without ceasing. Just as we breathe without ceasing, so must our lives be a prayer to God without break.
Sanctity of prayer
Prayer is a holy exercise before God. In prayer we speak, show or demonstrate God’s language or culture. God is holy so we cannot communicate or relate with him in any other state than in holiness and righteousness. Acts 10: 4 says your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. For prayers to qualify as a memorial before God, it must be holy from a holy heart. Iniquity or sin is a barrier to our prayer because it is not clean or pure but anathema before God. Psalms 66:18 says if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Prayer must rather exude purity of heart.
We read from 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 that if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Therefore in order to watch and to pray we must satisfy the precondition of repentance from sin through confession before Christ Jesus. Jesus said in Luke 16: 15 you are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. What is the state of our hearts? Jesus can see it all.
The work of prayer
Galatians 3: 11 says now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law. Prayer therefore justifies us by grace before God and his only Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Do we feel vindicated in our own right or by our own works rather than being vindicated through the blood of Jesus by prayer? We are creatures by prayer therefore we must devote to watching and praying always. 1 Timothy 4:4 says for everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving; for then it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
If we maintain or seek righteousness, watching and praying shall be effective tools for our lives. Jeremiah 33:3 says call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things which you have not known. We do not know everything in this life except God leads us with knowledge. We deceive ourselves if in pride we think we know all there is to life. However, in righteousness we can unlock every closed door with the key of prayer. James 5:16 says therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. We must watch and pray with righteousness if we want to achieve results.
Prayer
Our Lord Jesus Christ, we have heard your word that we should watch and pray. Mercifully lead us with the right attitude in prayer and to spend quality time with you when we are not weak but strong. In our watch, please open our eyes to perceive things of the spirit. Let our times of prayer be hallowed and receive our prayer as a memorial before you. In your holy name we pray, Amen!!
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