Show me a Christian who does not pray and I will declare him to be no Christian at all. For we, as Christians, have been given the Spirit of adoption that cries: "Abba, Father!"; we have not been given a Spirit of silence. Yet even though we have this Spirit within us it is still possibly to be lax in the discipline of prayer and we can lose sight of the incredible power of prayer.
"The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops." James 5 v 16 - 18 Queen Victoria once said that she feared the prayers of John Knox more than all the armies of the world; she was, at least, wise for saying so. For as James writes: the prayer of a Christian is powerful and effective. Notice as well the example James uses to back it up, "Elijah was a human being, even as we are." If we needed encouragement to pray then here we have it! Elijah was just like you and me yet his prayers stopped and started the rain! Likewise, our prayers are powerful and effective.
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There are many Christians who never attend their church’s prayer meeting; a church which has hundreds of people on a Sunday may have just ten percent attend the prayer meeting, on a good night. Maybe you’re one of them and maybe you’re expecting a judgemental rant but I'm sorry to disappoint for all I have for you is pity, great pity, for you are losing out on a joy that is scarcely matched.
Humanly speaking, it isn’t much, a group of people meeting together to speak out loud to their God with varying degrees of oratory skill, passion and length. And that’s it. Most prayer meetings go on for an hour and a half, not much longer, barely worth the effort of attending, in human terms. Spiritually speaking though we’re talking about something far beyond the usual. Prayer meetings are feasts for the soul, they are the heart beat of a local church, they are a refreshing dip into the fountain of all life and love, they are meeting and communing with Christ, they are joy, so much joy. My friends, you know not joy until you have tasted the banquet of a prayer meeting. You know not fellowship until you have banded together with a group of brothers and sisters in prayer. You know not God as he needs to be known unless you have come into his presence in a prayer meeting. |
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