6- "Alanus (my son), I'm Not Asking, I'm Telling"

Prayer has always been important to God and has always been a large part of faithful life under Him.

In Genesis we see every one of the patriarchs praying powerfully and intimately. In Exodus, prayer was how Moses secured the liberation of Israel from Egypt. In Deuteronomy we hear Moses cry out,

For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? (4:7)

In Job 42, we hear God telling the friends of Job to trust that God will hear Job’s prayer on their behalf. We see how powerfully prayer impacts the course of the Old Testament and see it surging on into the new, of course climaxing with Christ and His own emphasis on prayer and His commitment and desire to pray regularly.

“Jesus Christ taught his disciples to pray, healed people with prayers, denounced the corruption of the temple worship which he called a house of prayer, and insisted that some demons could be cast out only through prayer. He prayed often and regularly with fervent cries and tears, and sometimes all night. The Holy Spirit came upon him and anointed him as he was praying, and he was transfigured with the divine glory as he prayed. When he faced his greatest crisis, he did so with prayer. We hear him praying for his disciples and the church on the night before he died and then petitioning God in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Finally, he died praying.” - Keller

What did the disciples do after Christ’s death? Acts 1:14 says

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Acts 2:42 says

They devoted themselves to the apostles doctrine and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

They DEVOTED themselves to praying. They set it as their duty to pray.

Martin Luther describes prayer as "a habit that occurs through regular discipline."

“Guard yourselves against those false, deluding ideas which tell you, “Wait a little while. I will pray in an hour; first I must attend to this or that.”

Luther continues and is not scared of coming off as blunt or rigid.

“We are as strictly and solemnly commanded to pray as in the others… not to kill, not to steal, etc. We must pray whether we feel like it or not.”

Wow, ouch! This is quite convicting to me. We are not asked to pray or even advised to, we are commanded to.

“All Christians are expected to have a regular, faithful, devoted, fervent prayer life. Prayer is one of the main signs that the Spirit has come into the heart through faith in Christ . . . Prayer is awe, intimacy, struggle – yet the way to reality. There is nothing more important, or harder, or richer, or more life-altering. There is absolutely nothing so great as prayer.” - Keller

Theologian John Owen is speaking of ministers here, so this hits my heart directly, but this applies truly to all Christians:

“A minister may fill his pews, his communion roll, the mouths of the public, but what that minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more.” John Owen.

You Christian may be successful in your work, may have a good life and family at home, may attend church regularly, may teach a Sunday school class, may bring up the name of Jesus to your friends, but what you are on your knees in secret before God Almighty, that is what you are and no more.

Grace and Peace