Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Alistair Begg
Connects us with God
Jesus was a Man of prayer and His prayers intimately connected Him with the Father. Our prayers can do the same thing. How can you have an intimate relationship with anyone unless you communicate with them every day? The truth is that you cannot. That’s why we need this connection to God and we need prayer every single day of our life.
Let’s Us Praise Him
Did you know that you can praise God in prayer? We should because we have so many reasons. The psalmist says, “sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise” (Psalm 66:2), so “Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord; exult before him” (Psalm 68:4)!
Nothing without Him
We can do nothing without Christ (John 15:5), and nothing is not just a bit of something; it is nothing! That should humble us, so acknowledge that truth to God and admit in prayer that we can do nothing without Him, and only Christ can strengthen us to do anything for His glory (Phil 4:13). And, there’s nothing wrong with telling your brothers and sisters in Christ the same thing, if they don’t already know it.
Guiding Light
If you’ve ever lost electricity and been in the dark, you know how important it is to have a flashlight. No one goes to the store to buy a “flashdark.” Light is the only way to overcome the darkness, and Who is the most important Light that overcame our darkness? Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Thank God for His Light, the Light of the World, that brought us out of the darkness and into the Light. Thank God for the Light of the World when you pray.
Surrendering
When we are praying to God, we are surrendering our own will to His, or at least we should. We know His will is always better for us than our own will is. That’s because He sees the big picture; we only see through a dark glass (1st Cor 13:12), but God can even see into the future, so it serves us well to surrender to Him, and in prayer, we are acknowledging to God, “God, I need you. I surrender my own will and submit to Yours.”
Conclusion
We simply cannot live without prayer…at least for long. It is our spiritual oxygen. If we don’t take sufficient time to pray, we won’t connect with God as much; we won’t praise Him as much; we won’t acknowledge we can do nothing without Him; we won’t see the light that He gives through His Word; and we won’t surrender to Him.
