We know from verses like James 5:16 that fervent prayer is powerful when it’s coming from a righteous person. And we know that prayer changes things. Sometimes we fall short in our prayer life. But, if we only knew how powerful and impactful prayer is, we’d never miss a day of it.

If we look at Jesus Himself, we see from His example how important prayer is. We won’t make it through 2019, nearly as strong as we can be if we don’t pray. We must be praying people. Prayer is not a game. It’s not talking to air. But rather, it is our connection to God and without that connection we are lost.

Scholars have determined that Jesus woke up around 3am every morning to pray to the Father. There’s a reason for 3 am (see here), but the time he spent in prayer was an investment of the things he would do in the day. By waking up at 3am to pray for several hours, Jesus was equipping Himself to do His work. You see, when Jesus encountered people to heal them, he instantly helped them within minutes. Why was He able to do this? Because He had spent the wee hours of the morning praying and equipping Himself to face the day, which meant he had the ability to quickly heal. He also knew the importance of drawing close to the Father- it gave him comfort. Have you ever tried to pray for someone’s sickness and you’ve exhausted yourself trying to cast out that devil, or believing that person to receive healing? But, did you spend an adequate amount of time in prayer before fervertly trying to cast out a devil?

We spend 1 minute a day praying and hours trying to cast out a devil. Our math is wrong. We should be spending more time in prayer and we’d be better equipped to face our day. Prayer is powerful. It’s not a game and it’s not talking to air. But rather, it’s is our connection to Almighty God who equips us to face this life. We must dedicate a reasonable amount of time to prayer daily in order to make it through the ups and downs of 2019.

Happy Friday!