Keep on praying

Mon, 30 Jul 2018

‘Never stop praying.’ 1 Thessalonians 5:17 CEV

Have you become discouraged and stopped praying about the problem? If so, the word for you today is: ‘Keep on praying.’ God may not answer in the way you think He should, or within the time frame you think He should, but when you pray according to His Word, He has promised to answer: ‘No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.’ (Psalm 84:11 NKJV) When the children of Israel went to battle against a vastly superior army of Amalekites, Moses selected the Mountain of Prayer over the Valley of Battle and the Israelites won (see Exodus 17:8–13). When Abraham learned about the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, he
‘remained standing before the Lord’ (Genesis 18:22 NIV) rather than rushing out to warn the cities. When advisors informed Nehemiah that Jerusalem was in ruins, what did he do? Before he laid one stone in the foundation, he built a foundation of prayer under the whole project (see Nehemiah 1:4). Paul’s letters contain more requests for prayer than they do appeals for money or comfort. And what about Jesus? He rose up early to pray (see Mark 1:35). He dismissed people to pray (see Matthew 14:23). He climbed a mountain to pray (see Luke 9:28). Before going to the cross, He prayed all night (see Luke 22:39–46). Every word He spoke and every work He performed was saturated in prayer. And if He needed to do that, you do too! Bottom line: you can accomplish great things after you’ve prayed, but nothing great until you’ve prayed. So the word for you today is: keep on praying.