Every Christian knows that he should pray because praying is a fundamental part of a Christian’s life. The apostle Paul taught that we should “pray without ceasing” (1Th 5:17). Prayer is a communication with God and we can live each minute of our lives in a constant, flowing conversation with God.
However, the question is: do we actually do as we should or do we only pray during the assembly where we expect the formality of public prayer; a prayer led by someone else’s thoughts and words, to fulfil that individual’s spiritual responsibility?
Some Christians may have trouble getting their prayer life going because of various reasons. They may be too busy, do not know how to pray, find that prayer lacks purpose and meaning for them or they feel that they are just praying for the sake of a ritual rather than from a deep motivation within.
A strong prayer life is important for one to become a strong Christian. It helps us deal with difficulties in life by helping us take on struggles as part of life while focusing on the hope that lies ahead (Mat 26:39; Jam 5:13). It helps us focus on spiritual things when giving thanks and praise that is due to God every moment of every day (Phil 4:8). It helps our attitude immensely, especially toward our enemies, by having us focus on their spiritual issues and on God’s love for them (Mat 5:44). Prayer helps to give us the strength to overcome temptation (Mat 26:41). Prayer also grows our relationship with God. This is why Jesus frequently went off by Himself to pray (Mat 14:23).
When we pray, we should learn to apply the principles of prayer, as taught by Jesus (Mat 6:9-13). One of which is praising God. We should give praise to God for He is worthy of our praises because of what He has done in creation, what He has done through Jesus, what He has done for us personally even up to this very day; there are so many reasons for us to praise God!
Although we can see there are many good reasons for us to pray, it still seems that it can become onerous to get from the point of understanding to the point of application. Regardless, James reminds us, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (Jam 1:22). Therefore, we must get over all our excuses and do not delay any longer in making prayer a part of our daily lives.