His Encouragement: Prayer is a privilege

His Encouragement: Prayer is a privilege

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This post is part of the series His Encouragement

Other posts in this series:

  1. His Encouragement: Biblical Inspiration for your Thursday
  2. His Encouragement: Psalm 147:3
  3. His Encouragement: Psalm 37:3

Welcome! Welcome, dearest friends, to His Encouragement: Biblical Inspiration for Your Thursday. Every week, I join a few blogging friends to bring you a Bible passage and a little hope-filled discussion. We pray that these devotionals help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you.

Today’s Encouragement

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:2, ESV

Prayer is a privilege that many of us take for granted and there are a lot of misunderstandings surround genuine Christian prayer.

Sadly, prayer is often viewed as a last resort when things go wrong and we have exhausted all other avenues trying to fix the problem ourselves.

Prayer is not a vending machine

Sometimes we treat prayer like a vending machine: we put our request in, out pops our desired result, and we continue on our merry way without a second thought.

If the wrong result comes out of our prayer vending machine, we might be tempted to think that prayer is broken (God must be too busy, He does not care enough about little ol’ me, maybe He does not really exist…) and give up praying altogether.

Other times, prayer is simply the little thing we say before meals and bedtime by rote memory because we’re Christian and — just like fish symbols plastered on our cars or the cross necklace we wear or the Jesus Freak t-shirt in our closet — that is what Christians do, right?

Prayer is a privilege that we often take for granted or misunderstand. Click To Tweet

Perhaps the only time we get really serious about prayer is immediately after the high of a week-long revival or spiritual conference or if we are facing some immense obstacle like a health or financial crisis or the death of a loved one.

Then we fall to our knees to beg and bargain with the Lord for our desired outcome, and if the Lord’s gentle answer is a “no”, it could be so catastrophic that our entire faith is shaken.

Prayer is a privilege

If any of this sounds even vaguely familiar then we have missed the entire point of prayer. Prayer is a privilege.

Prayer is an intimate communication with God, the Creator of the universe, who loved fallen humanity so deeply that He risked everything to come down to our level and pay the penalty of sin for us so that we may be restored to Him.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:15-16, ESV

The only pre-requisite to prayer is that we must believe in the Lord and trust that the promises in His Word are true.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

When we realize just what a privilege prayer is, it becomes not only a humbling experience — we are entering into the very presence of the Creator Himself — but also an empowering one. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, protecting us from the deadly consequences of sin, we are able to speak directly with God Himself!

Prayer is a conversation

And, what is even more mind-blowingly wonderful, is that God Himself wants us to talk with Him.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord…” according to Isaiah 1:18.

God really does want us to share the burdens of our hearts with Him. He wants us to ask for help in our times of distress and need. And He longs for us to share our gratitude for the blessings He has bestowed upon us.

Prayer is an intimate conversation with God. Like any other relationship, communication is key. Your relationship with the Lord will grow stronger and deeper the more you spend time with Him and talk with Him!

Whenever we face any difficulty or uncertainty, let us go to the Lord in prayer first — not as our last resort. Click To Tweet

Not a last resort

Beloved, let us take this privilege of speaking with our Creator for granted no longer. Whenever we face any difficulty or uncertainty, let us go to Him first — not as a last resort.

Let us respect the precious time we spend in prayer as we would a conversation with a loved one or dear friend. After all, God is the greatest and dearest of all friends you and I could ever have.

What verse has touched your heart this week? Share in the comments below!

Be sure to also visit my fellow bloggers and read their encouragement for your Thursday as well:

Hi there, blogger. Would you like to join us in sharing encouragement from the Word of God every Thursday? Don’t be shy! Contact Trisha or Nicole today!

His Encouragement for Your Thursday

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