The Whole Life Must Pray

Prayer is an expression of a total life.

We know people who may not live a life totally devoted to Christ who might get an occasional prayer through.

They see a prayer answered and thank God for it, but then they pray for other things and wonder why God isn’t listening. They have very little patience.

We want our prayers to have more power than that. We want to be heard.

To be on the “front line” of defense for our church, we want the assurance that there isn’t anything blocking our prayers.

The only way this will happen is if we live a life filled with the Spirit.

Our prayers are only as powerful as our lives.

The prayer of the amateur is used as a fire escape.

When they hit a major problem in their lives which they can’t figure out, they drop to their knees in prayer and then turn it over to God.

Their first instinct is to try and figure things out on their own. It’s only when they get in over their heads that they will turn to God to take control and show them the way out.

In no way do we want to minimize these prayers and their effectiveness.

We have all prayed prayers like these. We all need the fire escapes. It’s when we only use the fire escapes and not the damp cloth to put out the little fires which may pop up that these become an issue.

Psalm 46:1 ESV

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

We want our lives to to be as such as we go through our daily routine, we are in communion with God.

All thoughts and acts could be considered prayers.

Our lives would be sacrifices of praise and worship to God.

In order for our prayers to be effective, we must get rid of any impure thoughts.

This might be considered to high a standard.

This would fall under the man-made doctrine of “sinless perfection.”

This standard will only be realized when we are in His presence, and we have our new bodies.

We are going to fail. It is only through the blood of Christ that God can even look at us.

Think about the times when the Bible was being written and the author says, “They turned and saw.” Were they being distracted by something wordly to the point they had to see what God had for them as opposed to being able to see all that God had for them.

The God-inspired doctrine is that it is possible to “walk in the Spirit” and so “not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

God made a way for us to get out from under sin through the price that was paid at the cross.

Romans 6:11 ESV

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Those who choose to live a life under the saving power of the Cross will live a life that is a life of prayer.

A person doesn’t have to be considered a prayer warrior to have a powerful prayer life.

They live a life in which they want to leave the presence of Christ with those they come in contact with.

To the Christian who never gets beyond using prayer as a “fire escape,” they will see prayer as a duty and burdensome.

They will also not understand the full meaning of prayer.

God may be trying to get their attention when He only answers some of their prayers. He’s trying to get them turn areas of their lives over to Him.

Once the believer starts to respond to God’s wooing, they will start to see the power of prayer in their live and those around them.

If they don’t respond to his gently calling them, He also has other ways to get them to respond.

When this happens, it will make the journey more painful.

Questions for home:

“All thing begin equal, our prayers are only as powerful as our lives.” How does one assess our life in Christ? Do we start with prayer? Put another way, are my prayers filled with emergency prayers or much prayer throughout my day? Do we examine our priorities of seeking first the kingdom of God? Take time to examine your own prayer life with this one.

How does one cultivate a prayer life so that prayer becomes as natural as breathing? Should we read more books on prayer? Pray more? Take time to read ; ; and .

What were the circumstances of your last emergency prayer? What was the answer? How was your prayer life affected aft that - did it become a digression, a return to the status quo, or serve as a progression? Once again, take time to reflect on the aftereffects from your last emergency prayer.

Was there a time in your life where you prayed more or saw more answered prayer? Reflect on what you walk in Christ was like at that time. On the other hand, can you identify time in your life where your walk in Christ was more holy but answered prayer was less? What is the possible reason for this?