Chris Kidd

Following on from my first post on the importance of prayer and being devoted to prayer, here are three brief answers to why we should be devoted to prayer.

1. The Bible tells us to pray and we should do what God says. Romans 12:12, along with many other verses says, "Be devoted to prayer." If we are not we are disobedient to the scriptures. That is foolish and dangerous. If prayer doesn't come easy for you then don't give up, fight for it, persist.
2. The needs for today are huge, be it in your own life, and in your family, and in the church, and in world mission and culture. These aren’t just big issues; they are often the question of eternity, heaven and hell; faith or unbelief. Remember Paul's passion in Romans 9 and 10, his heart wrenching grief and anguish for those of his “brothers” who aren’t saved. When we pray God intervenes in these needs and crises, this isn’t just about a daily routine of a prayer list, this is crying out for ourselves, our family, our friends, our community, our country, the world.
3. A third reason to pray is that God acts when we pray. And God can do more in five seconds than we can do in five years. Looking back over the years the amount of times God has intervened in my life following prayer is numerous. God doesn’t take all hard work away from us, but he makes us more effective, he gives inspiration and ideas for messages, wisdom when doing pastoral care, and so on. Prayer helps us to be more effective and fruitful.

There are more, but these are three answers to why pray: 1) God commands us to pray; 2) the needs are great, and eternal things are at stake; 3) God acts when we pray and often does more in seconds than we could do in hours or weeks or sometimes years.