Updated:- Wednesday, November 2023
This Is Not an Important Feature of Prayer
The importance of prayer to Christians is numerous. But one of the first ones, to take note of, is the fact that our prayer to the Lord God is not a conversation.
He never replies while we’re praying. Instead, we are pouring out of our hearts to him. Prayers make us bare and open and vulnerable to God.
Nevertheless, prayer is one of the most effective methods Christians have to submit their hearts to God. Prayers must be voluntary and from broken or unhardened hearts for God to transform them.
Jesus reveals one of the reasons Christians should pray.
He says,
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”
Matthew 26:41
So, daily prayers to God are important to prevent us from entering into the temptation of the Devil and prevent us from committing sins.
Jesus also emphasized the importance of prayers when he taught his disciples to pray.
There is absolutely no area of your life where the importance of prayer has not permeated. It affects every aspect of our lives.
1). Examples of the Importance of Prayer
The significance of our prayers is very evident when we perceive that they are indeed spiritual tools.
These are our petitions to the Lord God! 1 Timothy 2:1.
We make prayers to the Lord God to obtain our desired outcomes.
Prayers Produce This With Others!
This was what Nehemiah did. He prayed for favor with his employer King Artaxerxes.
“O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer” (Nehemiah 1:11).
Because of the great significance prayer played in his life, the Lord granted Nehemiah’s petition (prayer).
Is there someone influential that you desire to be in good favor with? It could be someone on the job or in government.
Depending on the nature of it, it might be something worth praying about.
Pray To Obtain the Desired Outcome!
The importance of prayer is evident in the event below because it changes the outcome.
King David utilized prayer in this unique manner.
“And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness” (2 Samuel 15:31).
The Lord honored this petition of King David.
“… Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel…..”
(2 Samuel 17:14)
Do you desire a child or trying to have one unsuccessfully?
Invite the Hand of God by prayer! (1 Samuel 1:27).
Elisha’s Prayer
Pray to see!
“... Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; ... he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”
(2 Kings 6:17)
Pray for blindness!
“And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.”
(2 Kings 6:18)
While examining each of the examples above you would realize that prayer was used as a spiritual tool or weapon.
2). Our Prayers Are Times For Giving of Thanks!
Our prayers are times for thanksgiving or giving of thanks.
Thanking God for His great works in our lives! (1 Timothy 2:1; 1 Sam 2:1-10).
3). Prayers – Our Times to Forgive!
Did you know that people who don’t pray experience great difficulties forgiving others? Our prayers are times to forgive others!
The importance of prayer is also evident when we are ready to forgive others.
“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25-26; Matthew 6:12, 14-15).
Therefore, this is the time for you to pray for someone who has been less than honorable to you.
This is when I would name names.
Mention their names in your prayers to God. This is one of the first steps in the process of forgiving others.
4). Prayers Are Times to Confess Our Sins to God
“And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments” (Daniel 9:4; 1-6).
Heaven responds when we pray, Luke 3:21.
⇒ We pray for the manifestation of solutions (Genesis 20:17; Numbers 11:2).
⇒ Our prayers are God’s hands in our lives.
⇒ Need deliverance from danger, hurt, or harm? Gen 32:11
⇒ We pray to restrain God’s hands Deut 9:26; 1 King 17:21
⇒ Pray for God’s hands 2 Kings 6:17; 18.
5). How Do We See The Importance of Prayer in Praying?
Then, you must pray.
God could only answer your prayers if you prayed them!
Many times when we read the Book of Psalms we read of King David praying.
However, in most, if not all, of these instances, he was not praying for himself. Instead, the Spirit of Christ was praying through him for Jesus Christ.
David prayed these prayers probably, I didn’t research the exact date, thousands of years before the birth of Christ.
Nevertheless, because David prayed when Jesus needed help the Lord sent assistance for him because David prayed.
So, if you need your prayers answered you must pray and pray in advance!
6). We Only Submit Our Hearts to God When This Happens
One of the most important things about prayer is that if we never pray we never will submit our hearts to the Lord God.
The Lord is in the heart business. He is after our hearts.
Daily praying to God is a daily submitting your heart to Him!
Therefore, submit your heart to Him daily. Pray every day!
One of the ways the Devil will try to prevent you from praying is by procrastinating.
Setting up a prayer schedule and adhering to it is one way to beat procrastination!
Another important and subtle manner that the Devil uses to prevent us from praying is stubbornness.
Say, for example, you are encouraging a friend to pray but she refuses each time.
This simple act of refusal will deny God access to her heart.
How Does Stubbornness Affect Prayer?
Speaking about stubbornness the Bible says,
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
1 Samuel 15:23
Therefore, praying must be “willing” not forceful but gentle!
Jesus reminds the Jews and us not to be stubborn or harden our hearts.
He says,
“Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness.”
(Hebrews 3:8)
Through daily prayers, we voluntarily submit our hearts to God and grant Him daily access to them to transform them.
7). What Is The Importance of Prayer as We Draw Near to God?
We also see the significance of prayer when we draw near to God.
“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded”
James 4:8
One of the most effective methods to purify our hearts is through prayer. And we accomplish this because when we pray we submit our hearts to God.
Then, he transforms them with His words!
Thus, if we never pray we will never experience a transformed and changed heart.
How Do We Get Close to God?
We cannot achieve closeness to God without prayer.
God has not moved. Neither have we but by prayer and fasting our hearts are made available to God.
Through prayer, we give Him our hearts. We are not separate or distant from Him but close!
8). Prayer Is Important Because of How It Impacts Temptation
Our prayers and being watchful keep us from entering into temptation.
Again, here we perceive that it’s an effective spiritual tool.
It is one of our most powerful spiritual weapons.
Bible Verses About the Importance of Prayer
- “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).
- “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38).
- “And when [Jesus] was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation” (Luke 22:40).
- Jesus asks his disciples, “Why sleep ye? [R]ise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation” (Luke 22:46).
- Finally, for this reason, we should pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Matthew 6:13).
In closing, we could only prevent entering into temptation through prayers. Our prayers and those of intercessors praying for us!
However, daily prayers are vital for Christians to avoid temptations. Additionally, by praying every day we maintain our hearts accessible to God and pure.
