How important is prayer to you?  Are you in a constant state of thought upon God and godliness?  Is that what Paul spoke of when he wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit in 2 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.”?  That may well have been God’s intention, but one thing we can be assured of through the evidence of all his writings, is that prayer was always on the mind of Paul.  You cannot read a book authored by him without seeing allusions to his prayers for the saints, his fellow Christians, or a direction or command that we should offer up prayer for one reason or another… 

Let me ask you again, how important is prayer to you?  In his first letter to the Corinthian church, chapter eleven, Paul wrote “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” (NAS)  Paul said he was an imitator of Christ and that we should imitate Paul for that very reason.  Christians are followers, disciples of Christ, seeking to be like Him in all they do and say.  Paul imitated the prayer life of Jesus and he strongly exhorts us to do the same…

In 1 Timothy 2:1-8 we find the words of Paul telling us that “first of all” importance was prayer!  We are to make entreaties, prayers, petitions and thanksgiving for “all men.”  That means we are to consider in our prayers our friends, our family and even our enemies, which would likely be the most difficult of all, yet an examination of the life of Christ and His disciples will bear this out.  We are also to pray for Kings and all who are in authority.  For us that would be those in governmental positions at all levels, from the President to local Aldermen… Why?  In order to live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honest.

How important is prayer to you?  Prayer is an indication of the level of closeness in your relationship to God.  We share our thoughts and cares only with those whom we are closest to?  If you have a close and personal relationship with God, then you will have a prayer life indicative of that relationship.  If I ask you about how close you are with God, you need go no further than to look at your prayer life.  How important is prayer to you?

Copyright © 2004, Nolan P. Rutter