“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;”
– Colossians 4:2 NKJV
Oftentimes we can tell when we are not praying enough and a lot of us don’t know what to do when we have this feeling. The good thing about it is that you can change. You can get better at praying because prayer can be learned. The disciples knew this when they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray in Luke 11:1.
You can grow and improve your prayer life. It will not always be easy, and you will not always feel like it or enjoy it, but you can learn to persevere regardless.
One of the first lessons Jesus taught on prayer was perseverance. He told the story of a man who had to wake up at midnight to aid his friend because the friend kept knocking (Luke 11:5-9).
To persevere is to maintain focus despite difficulty or discouragement. This means that you have to push beyond what you feel. To pray only when you feel like it is to have an unhealthy devotional life.
A lot of times we have so many excuses to explain why we don’t pray as often as we should, but we have to learn to pray regardless of these perfect excuses.
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. (James 5:17 NIV)
The Scripture above explained that Elijah was human like we are. This means he also had feelings, he also got tired, and he probably had many reasons not to pray, but he prayed earnestly.
We have to learn to be consistent in our prayers. It’s like building muscles, you can’t develop muscles by simply spending 24 hours straight at the gym, you’d have to consistently go to the gym. The same applies to prayer.
Setting up routines that help us stay on track and become less reliant on our moods before prayer will be beneficial. Utilising the Christian community is another strategy for maintaining our consistency. When you are in the midst of people praying, you are more likely to be spurred to pray as well. This is why we should never neglect the gathering of the brethren. Take advantage of the blessing of fellowship (Hebrews 10:25).
Elijah’s impact should challenge you. If he was a man like you and was able to make declarations as he did and stay long in the place of prayer, then you can.
Bible Reading Plan:
John 17:1-5, Revelation 7, Job 32, Amos 5-6