In Everything by Prayer

DAY 1

Jesus said,"Ask, and it shall be given you."

PRAYING DOES NOT COME NATURALLY

The natural man does not like to pray. To him it is tiresome, tasteless and tedious. He would rather lie comfortably in bed, or sit captive before the TV screen, or enjoy himself with the pleasure-mad world. Spending time in prayer is to him foolishness. God's Word says, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." So it is with prayer.

Prayer is spiritual. It is a striving against the flesh, the "natural man." It is a constant and ongoing struggle. It is part of our Christian experience. We all know and agree that we ought to pray, but we fail to do so, and we fail miserably. Instead of praying we have wasted many hours in spiritually unprofitable pastimes. No wonder our spiritual progress is at a standstill. The Apostle Paul expressed this sense of failure thus: "For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do ... when I would do good, evil is present with me" (Rom 7:19 ,21 ).

What, then, must we do? First, let us agree that we must pray, and pray in the Spirit. To be able to pray in Spirit and in truth we must confess our sin, this sin of prayerlessness, of worldliness, of yielding to self and the flesh. Pray for cleansing and forgiveness. We must repent in Spirit and in truth. "A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Ps 51:17 ). Second, we must be prepared to pay the price, for true praying is costly. You must be willing to forfeit some sleep, leisure, unprofitable pastime --- anything which draws you away from your communion with the Lord. Third, you must set a particular time (best in the morning before the day's busyness descends on you) and keep the holy appointment with God.

In Gethsemane our Lord prayed for us, with sweat "as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground" (Lk 22:44 ). To us He says, "What, can you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

QUESTION: Can you watch with Him one hour?

PRAYER: Lord, watch over me everyday in prayer.