The Importance of Prayer

Prayer is Important!

Luke 18:1 NLT

1 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.

Luke 6:12 (NLT)

12One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.

Luke 9:18 NLT

18 One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

Mark 6:46 NLT

46 After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.

We can see by these scriptures that prayer was important to Jesus. He told His disciples that they should always pray and then by example He left crowds to pray and He even went up the mountain to pray and prayed all night. Prayer was very important to Jesus. If He needed to pray how much more do you think we have to pray.

Personal prayer is between you and God!

Matthew 6:6 NLT

6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Matthew 6:5 NLT

5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.

Prayer is powerful!

Acts 16:16–26 NLT

16 One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.” 18 This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her. 19 Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. 20 “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. 21 “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.” 22 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. 24 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. 25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!

They were beaten and put into the inner dungeon and had their feet in stocks Now this was not your modern day facility this was down where there were probably rats and it was cold and damp. plus they clamped there feet into stocks. Very painful especially after being beaten. So what do they do, the pray and then sing hymns so all the prisoners heard them. This wasn’t a silent prayer. This was probably a desperate one and because of that God came on the scene and freed them all. The jailer got saved and took care of them.

Different types of prayer!