The Naturalness of Prayer

The author of the famous allegorical book Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan, once said, “You can do no more than pray until you have prayed.” His statement is still true and needs to be heard and understood in this hour of church history.

When it comes to prayer, this holy calling should be natural to every follower of Jesus Christ. Oftentimes we become very good at describing prayer, teaching on prayer, writing about prayer, etc. However, we neglect the actual practice of prayer itself. The result is a hybrid form of Christianity that is void of power and eternal results.

In Luke 18, Jesus shared a parable about a widow and an unjust judge. The crux of the story is that the dynamic that moved the heart of the judge to grant the widow her plea was her persistency. In the parable, the judge reveals that he neither fears God nor man but due to the incessant requests from the widow, he eventually grants her desires

How much more will God the Father grant our requests when we are faithful in prayer? Jesus speaks to this fact at the end of this story and declares that those who cry out to God through the day and night will see results. The fact is that the key to everything that pertains to God and being a child of His stems from a life of persistent prayer.

We must understand that God intends our praying to secure divine answers and eternal results. Therefore, to the true Christian, the tendency to pray should be normal to us. Prayer is, therefore, indigenous in us, and it is not if we pray but when we pray. True victory and divine answers come through persistent prayer, which must be fueled by a continual adherence to the practice of prayer, which the Lord has designed.

Persistent prayer is God’s prescribed way for revealing and extending His kingdom, for defeating Satan and his empire of evil, and for accomplishing His eternal plans. True praying is God’s ultimate strategy for every age and dispensation, and the history of the church can never be completely written until eternity reveals the ramifications of those who adhered to prayer and intercession.

Join me this week on Maintain the Flame as I share some important thoughts about prayer. During this episode, we will explore how prayer should be natural to every follower of Jesus and not an added practice from time to time. Be prepared to be challenged and encouraged as you listen. {eoa}

Keith Collins is the founder of Generation Impact Ministries and Impact Global Fellowship. He is actively involved in itinerant ministry, teaching and writing. In recent years, Keith served as the president of the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry and as the director of FIRE School of Ministry, which were both born out of the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida. His recent book, Samuels Arising: Waking Up to God’s Prophetic Call, is now available on Amazon and his podcast, Maintain the Flame, can be heard on iTunes and at cpnshows.com. You can contact Keith via his websites at generationimpactministries.com or impactgf.org.