The essence of prayers (Part 1)

Bible verse for today: Luke 5:16 “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

Apart from food, shelter and clothing the next basic thing every Christian needs is prayer. It is more important that the first three basic needs.

It is the start of a relationship between you and God, which is why the devil does everything in his power to prevent us from having that constant communication with our creator.

The bible makes us understand that Jesus started and ended his ministry with prayer, and even taught us how to pray before he ascended to heaven.

The Word for Today devotional by United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) says:

Prayer is foundational to your individual Christian life, and also to the life and ministry of your church. Like a foundation that secures a building, prayer gives you something trustworthy on which to rest. No wonder satan works overtime to keep you busy and distracted so that you lose regular in-depth communication with our heavenly Father. But there’s one person against whom satan couldn’t make headway, when it came to trying to disrupt His prayer life: Jesus. And He’s the great example of what your prayer life should be. He began and ended His public ministry in prayer. In Mark chapter one, on one of the busiest days of His life, we see Jesus getting up before daylight to pray.

Luke writes, ‘He…often withdrew…and prayed.’ It was His regular daily habit! In the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed with an intensity none of us will ever know. No wonder the disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. Just how important is prayer? Ask Peter. It was the prayers of Christ that kept him from being destroyed completely when he denied his Lord; they salvaged him, and eventually promoted him to leadership in the church. And the only reason you don’t fail more often is because Jesus is praying for you, too (John 17:20; Hebrews 7:25). The application is pretty obvious: if Jesus needed to pray—so do you. Furthermore, if you’re waiting until you feel like it, or for the Spirit to move you to pray, you’re missing something. The Holy Spirit has already moved you to pray—through the instruction and example Christ left you.