What's in a prayer?

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26).

Leonard Ravenhill, an English evangelist said that "A sinning man stops praying, and a praying man stops sinning."

I was just thinking about how in my Christian life, praying has always been one of the most challenging aspects. It's difficult to wake up early in the morning to pray...or to pray continuously throughout the day. However Jesus did it, and men of God still do it today. So why can't we? It's the only time where we can truly pour out our hearts to God...so what's stopping us? I've come to learn that Ravenhill was a preacher with a devoted prayer life. He prayed 6-7 hours a day, every day...except the Lord's day. In fact, he was an evangelist who spent more time in praying than studying the scriptures. He studied the scriptures for about 6 hours as well...so altogether, he would spend 12-14 hours with God daily! That's true devotion to the maker of the Universe.

The thing that stops us from praying and spending time with God can be the sins and the inevitable guilt that follows it...but quite often, it's the emails that we're replying to, or the hang outs we have with our church friends. The devil will certainly bring about godly things in our daily life to trip us in our prayer life...to make us falter in yet another aspect of true adoration to God. So set aside that time for prayer daily and follow through with it, because few things surpass it in importance. The only thing other thing that is more important I guess would be hearing God speak through His word.

It is said that a person is only as great as their prayer life. So where do we stand in that?

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)