NKJV, Psalm 55: 17 “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice”.
NKJV, Luke 18: 1 “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint”.
Praying always and anywhere is the secret of Christians who watch and understand the times. Persistent prayer is rewarding and grows Faith. Being in the mood for prayer and cultivating the habit of praying all day is the goal of a Christian warrior. Believing that God hears you when you cry to Him is an expression of Faith.
The psalmist urges us to pray all day long because we need not spare any moment for the enemy to gain the upper hand over us in our battle with him. Biblically, evening, morning, and noon constitute a day (see Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31). So David lays down the principle that we should always be prayerful because the moment we will be off-guard is when the enemy may attack.
Oh, what a wonderful thought that you do not have to book an appointment before you can talk to God. Consider the difficulty in getting permission to confer with even a minister of state. Here, we have the Sovereign of the universe whom we can approach at any time – morning, noon, and evening: He Said Himself that, Jer 33: 3 “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not”.
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Jesus Himself made the point in Luke 18:1, “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,”. Verses 2-9 give the story of an importunate widow who prayed persistently until her petition was granted.
To be a victorious Christian, you must be importunate in your prayers. The adjective “importunate” means, among others (from various sources) – “persistent to the point of annoyance,”; “overly persistent in request or demand,”; “refusing to be denied”, “annoyingly persistent and relentless”, “making repeated or annoying requests”. No persistent prayer of yours annoys God. Sometimes you may feel you are worrying God, but that is Satan’s way of depriving you of prayer, especially at the time you need prayer most. To stress the point of persistent prayer, meditate on the texts below:
Luke 21:36 – “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Paul said in Philippians 4:6-7 – “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Prayer is the Gateway to Power. Prayer does not have to be long, can be everywhere – do not spiritualise Prayer – don’t big, big or fancy words: make prayer simple. A prayer less Christian in a powerless Christian.
