Why we need to pray more than we are?

At the beginning of the year, I like to look at my life and consider: Is the way I am living my life now moving me in the direction I want to go? Usually a sincere evaluation unveils that some things have to change if I want to see different results.  Life has it’s own way of moving you in a myriad of directions if you don’t purposefully set to go where you want to go – and that place for a Christian is where God wants them to go.

This year God revealed to me why we need to pray more than we are. Read on to find out God’s reasons – they are very relevant and up-to-date for our lives.

1. Without Me you can do NOTHING.

Jesus said in John 15 something that many of us find deep down really hard to believe. He said: ‘Apart from Me you can do NOTHING.” Our thoughts though sometimes protest against this and say: BUT GOD, I have done things without You before and I succeeded, even in the ministry… Or so we think.

When God says ‘Apart from Me you can do NOTHING’, what does He mean? He means, apart from being in communion with Me, don’t think you will ever achieve anything that has eternal consequence. You might look like things are working here on earth for a while, but no fruit that will remain will come out of it that will impact eternity. Yes, we can achieve wood, hay and stubble and those sometimes look very good to us here on the earth and might get many people’s praises, but in the end, they will be burned and we will SUFFER LOSS – in other words, we will end up with NOTHING.

Why NOTHING? Because anything of eternal value and consequence has to be born out of the eternal Spirit of God. Finite creatures cannot produce eternal results.

We need the Spirit of God if we want fruit. We can fill our tree with lots of fake apples and it might look amazing to the eyes of the people who can only see the surface, but eternity will bring to view both the internal and external and anything unfit for Kingdom of God will be burned and you will be left with nothing to show for all your sweat.

2. Watch and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape the things that are coming upon to earth.

“Watch therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:36)

With the world the way it is right now, there isn’t a more appropriate time to apply this Scripture to our lives. Random attacks on innocent people, violence, persecution, financial instability, wars, earthquakes, cyclones to just name a few of the things that are coming upon the earth. We need God in these times more than ever before so we can escape these horrible things.

3. Watch and pray that you may not fall into temptation.

Jesus said to his tired, discouraged disciples: ‘Watch and pray that you may not fall into temptation’. This was the last command He gave them before He was taken from them to be arrested. He said that, while He was in the world, He kept them, but now He was being taken from the world, and they needed to pray to be kept from temptation.

Are you praying specifically that you may not fall into temptation? The Lord’s prayer confirms the need for this kind of praying: ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

What are the specific temptations which the Bible emphasizes that will characterize the last days?

• temptation to lovelessness – the love of many will grow cold, they will betray one another
• temptation to getting offended – especially offended at God as well as at one another
• temptation to sin – lawlessness will abound
• temptation to a form of godliness
• temptation to fall pray to deception through many rampant false teachings through lack of knowledge of the Word
• temptation to fall away from Jesus

I think we would be wise to pray that God will keep us from these things which we are told will abound in the last days.

4. Pray that you may seek intimacy with Him

Jesus made it very clear that not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. but those who do His will. He gave a warning that even though you might be busy with ministry – spiritual kind for that matter, power based ministry – casting out demons, prophesying – and do not make sure you maintain a personal, intimate relationship with God, and live in sin, He will say to you: ‘Depart from Me, I never KNEW you, you who practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:23)

Exercising a ministry where you see powerful manifestations of God’s power can deceive you into thinking that you are right with God, but it’s not the power in your ministry that is the test of you being right with God, but rather it’s intimacy with God and holiness which flows from that intimacy, according to this verse.

Jesus gave a specific warning about this in Revelation 2:

 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;³ and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. ⁴ Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

Tell me if the above is not especially describing the typical life a ministry leader has: lots of works, labor, patience, testing other teachers to see if they are false or true, perseverance, labor for God’s sake, not becoming weary. Yet Jesus comes out and says very clearly: I HAVE THIS AGAINST YOU. Those are strong words. You really don’t want God to be against you – that means you are in big trouble. But in His goodness, He gives the solution – return to your first love, to intimacy with Me.

This shows as well what God values most – our return to our first love, intimacy. Though He appreciates those mentioned in the above verse for all their hard labor and stand for truth, this cannot replace intimacy with Him as the number one priority, no matter how many needs are in the world and how much we think needs to be done. Do we follow His agenda or ours?

He seeks intimacy more than He seeks productivity from us.  Try to be intimate with your husband or wife while you are very busy with many tasks. It just doesn’t work very well. The only way it will work is when you choose to let go of some of the things that keep you busy and make time to give undivided attention to your marriage partner. No marriage and no relationship can survive the distance with divided attention.

5. Pray that you may be prepared for the coming of Christ

God tells us that in the last days we need to be like the wise virgins, or we will be caught unprepared by His coming.

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” (Matthew 25:1-4)

We can see that God’s evaluation on their readiness was not based on how busy they were, but how much oil they had to help them through the darkness in the last days – how much they were filled with the Holy Spirit. This should motivate us to always keep our tank full, as we know He will come in the night like a thief, when we least expect Him.

Has the above listed reasons convinced you that you need to pray more?

How are you going to take this an turn it into a reality in your schedule? If it does not end up in your daily schedule, it most likely won’t get done.

What are you going to give up in order to make space for the most important thing in your life?

Are you going to strongly commit to the change?

Only you can answer these questions, and God is watching to see what you will choose.

“For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his paths.” (Proverbs 5:21)

“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to show Himself strong on the behalf of those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

Choose life!