Philippians 1:4
“always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all”.
Paul was a prayer warrior. He understood its power. Prayer is tapping into God’s power.
God is omnipotent. There is power all throughout creation. However, it’s power comes through Him. For each day to begin and end it’s due to God. We can begin with the sun. It burns because He sets all the laws of science into motion. All the planets revolving around the sun. The earth is in the perfect place in our solar system. Our galaxy and maybe others may exist to counter balance the earths rotation. God may be tweaking it to keep things in place.
When we come into earth, all the living things are millions of miracles in themselves. How each organ functions, the circulatory system, the nervous system, how bodies fight of infections and so on.
Then we come to our psyches. We were meant to be in a constant state of joy. If we are in Christ, that’s usually realized. We problem solve, we set goals and attempt to reach them and so on.
All this to say that God is all powerful and is able to do anything to assist us. He can enter situations and alter them. He can change peoples hearts, He can go into situations and alter them.
God has His reasons for things. He has purposes. We don’t know what they are and won’t know until we are in heaven. Some may need certain outcomes to move them closer to christ. Other situations may be a consequence for an evil action.
Our prayer can move God on some things. Others are fixed. We don’t know which is which. So, we are to pray for all things. If it’s a fixed event, then we should still pray. He can work on hearts. To give us (or those involved) peace and faith.
What comes next is the love of God. No other deity has this. God’s love is as great as His power. If we knew just a fraction of His love we would pray much more.
Another aspect of God is that He wants to be in a relationship with us and we with Him. Revelation 3:20 is as clear as could be, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone opens the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with Me.” That description would shock most people. They may agree with the concept of God’s love, but most don’t know the intimate relationship that He wants with each of us. I’ve heard people say that they think prayer is bothering God. They think He wants us to be independent. Part of that makes sense as we want our kids and others to be self sufficient. Yes, God does want us to bear our own burdens, but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t want us to pray.
Paul encourages us to pray always. He says in Ephesians 6:18, “Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.” This is in the context of spiritual warfare. That is a great reason to pray always. The devil is trying to wreck us and all around. By praying as God wishes, we are tapping into His love for all and moving His hand.
Another paragraph of scriptures about praying always is I Thessalonians 5:16-19, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit”. This passage is more relational. We are to be so close to God that we are talking and listening to Him all day. It doesn’t mean we can’t focus on our jobs and all the parts of life that busy us in a good way. It means we can ask for help and understanding in them. We will feel emotions of frustrations as we hit a brick wall. “Lord, give me wisdom in this.” We speak to Him and He speaks to us. We quench the Spirit when we disobey His Word. The bible is His primary way He speaks to us.
This scripture says to give thanks in everything. Gratitude is another form of prayer. We are to do it always. Not by obligation, but because God is always showering blessings on us. Even the difficulties we face are meant to make us better and to reach more people for Christ. God’s joy is to bubble up out of us.
Thank You Lord for prayer. Help us to do it more. To be more engaged with You, to fight battles, and to walk in a close relationship with You. Thank You.