
Those simple yet important words are sung in many Christian churches following the morning prayer in Sunday worship. We often sing them reflexively, not even thinking about what we are doing as part of a routine ritual. Prayer, however, is so much more than that and is such an important part of our relationship with God and His Son, the Living Christ. It is important for us to recognize this and use the power of prayer routinely to commune with the Lord.
God gave us three things to do regularly which serve to keep our faith strong and on track. They include worship, Bible reading and prayer. They are not difficult but they do take a constant commitment and focus and so many today put them off arguing that we can always do them at a later time. The problem with that is the later time often continues to be put off until we run out of practice and faith like anything else requires practice to remain strong and central to our life. Salvation requires our faith to be strong and continue to grow. When we lose sight of the foundation steps and take them for granted, the fallen angel is always looking for the opportunity to find our weaknesses and try to gain another supporter.
It's really as simple as this: Jesus died to give us the opportunity to inherit a place in His Kingdom if we only have faith and believe. Faith can crumble if we don't let the Holy Spirit guide us in the things we do and the way we live, and prayer is one of the three keys to keeping Him central in our heart and mind.
Doesn't Jesus deserve our honor and willingness to live for Him after what He did for us? The saving and salvation of a sinner is never something that we should take lightly. Since each of us is a sinner His grace and love is what breaks the chains of sin and offers true freedom. Prayer is our way to talk with Him personally and say what's on our mind. That's a pretty special blessing and it can be done anywhere; the important thing is that we do it every day and anytime we want to be close to Him. If you don't believe this, try it. You'll find over time that it will make big positive changes in the way you see and live life.
Dear Lord: We thank you for giving us your Son and with His death the opportunity to live forever with you in heaven above when this life is done. And thank you for the tools to strengthen and guide us, one of which is prayer. Help us to use prayer as our way to talk with you daily or more often, whenever we need guidance, answers to the questions that we have about life and to praise you for the gifts you have given. We know that you want to hear from us in our own words and make us ever mindful that by doing so our ability to live the Word is enhanced and our life is enriched. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Have a blessed Lord's Day.