I have had many believers say to me " I know prayer is important but I just don't have the time". I respond, how can you not have time to pray?" You were made to Pray."
Fish were made to swim, birds were made to fly, and we were made to pray.
The response I get is, I am just too busy, that is my reality.
I respond back that you need to realize that reality is made up of both what you see and what you can't see.
Who you are becoming is more important than anything you are doing.
God is changing you. Prayer is a means of God's grace. It is God's grace that changes you so that you are not the person yo once were. God didn't bring you into the Kingdom to leave you the same. He loves you, he has bigger plans for you than you can imagine. Eternal life began the day you started following Jesus; eternal life begins on this earth.
You are a new person. The potter is shaping your heart. Prayer is part of the process.
Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us. If you avoid prayer you cut yourself off from the central flow that is meant to transform you.
Prayer has a purpose.
The purpose of prayer is to release the power of God to accomplish his will. Through prayer we discover God's will, not to obligate Him to do ours, but to reflect God's mind, not change it. What God wants to do on earth he will accomplish through prayer. Prayer is what sets God's will in motion on earth. Prayer is the conduit that brings the power of heaven into the circumstances of earth.
You are being changed so that your heart is a reflection of His. Your desires are His desires. His concerns are your concerns. His will is reflected in your prayers. Prayer is the artery connecting our hearts to God's so His life can flow into us and then through us.
"Prayer is the ...means whereby we assimilate more and more of His mind" Oswald Chambers
Your prayers will become consistently more powerful and effective.
He will move those mountains and He will part that sea for you, or he wont, but you have to trust Him in that He knows what is best for you and has a plan for you. Keep praying no matter what.
The secret of prayer is not how to change God, but how to be changed by Him.
Remember Jesus in His all night prayer in Gethsemane linked his heart to the Father. He said (paraphrasing)-"Put your will into my heart so that it overwrites any other desire." "Give me courageous faith that deletes fear." "Synchronize my heart's desire with Yours" "Your will be done."
Prayer is not an activity but a relationship.
Prayer is the means by which we will be freed from our earthbound, time-bound thinking to participate in eternity.
Prayer is the channel in which God will be brought to earth. Prayer is opening our lives to God, acknowledging our total dependence on Him.
God would not mock us, he would not tell us to pray and not heed our call.
When you pray to God he gets something that only you can give Him. He wants to hear from you.
God wants you to find your voice in the most important conversation in life.
"I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me" -Psalm 77:1 (KJV)
Prayer is not supposed to be hard work.
The hard work is already done. Jesus ripped the veil that separated God and man. Jesus died for our sins. His blood washed us clean. Jesus opened the door. God wants to hear from us.
Prayer becomes frustrating when you don't pray with your own voice. God made you with your own voice and that is the voice He wants to hear. God wants you to seek Him.
He wants you to pour out your heart to Him. He loves you so much. The more you pray the easier it becomes.
Discipline yourself to pray-it is worth it!
The reward God offers is Himself: and that will be more than enough.
Prayer is where God pours out his love everyday. Prayer is the reward for walking with God.
"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus"
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)