Pray, then Prayer, then finish up by Praying

Spurgeon says: "Of course the preacher is above all others distinguished as a man of prayer. He prays as an ordinary Christian, else he were a hypocrite. He prays more than ordinary Christians, else he were disqualified for the office he has undertaken. If you as ministers are not very prayerful, you are to be pitied. If you become lax in sacred devotion, not only will you need to be pitied but your people also, and the day cometh in which you shall be ashamed and confounded. All our libraries and studies are mere emptiness compared with our closets. Our seasons of fasting and prayer at the Tabernacle have been high days indeed; never has heaven's gate stood wider; never have our hearts been nearer the central Glory."

Is prayer of primary concern for us who handle the Word of God? I'm finding that prayer must be entered into first and foremost and that the message is then refreshed by the breath of God. How we must labor in the Word but first we must begin in prayer, continue in prayer and to finish in prayer. 

Edward Payson was an American Congregational preacher in the early 19th century and said this in regards to prayer: "Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister. Pray, then, my dear brother; pray, pray, pray."

I recently got together with some pastors and the conversation went to the Wednesday night prayer service. The question was asked "what do you do in your prayer service?" Of course, most there said they did all kinds of things but prayer was certainly not the emphasis and what was done most in those services. One minister said that he used it to pray. He followed that up with, however, you might as well know that you won't have a well attended service.

In my last church I was given the Wednesday night prayer service. However, I changed the name to the Mid-week service because the name certainly did not describe what we were doing at those service. Another one of my minister friends told me that they indeed pray and it's the highlight of the service. But he also told me that he struggled with the idea that his people would think that he was just coping out and too lazy to put together a sermon.

Wow. What does that say about our attitude towards prayer. What does that say about the reality that we really don't pray. We can talk the talk but when it comes down to the rubber hitting the road, we do very little work on bended knee.

For me, one of the hardest disciplines to do, is to pray. I believe it's difficult because Satan knows that it's the most needed discipline for you and I and, of course, the church. That is if we're going to be lead by the Father, and to have His mind, direction, and power in our lives.

We see all kinds of examples of this in Scripture. Jesus, the very Son of God, often got alone to be with God to pray.  "And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed" (Mark 1:35).  The Psalmist said: "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and and glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary" (Ps. 63:1-2).  

When was the last time you prayed? Have you prayed yet today? We are living in a dry and thirsty land and yet we forgo entering into his sanctuary - the New Jerusalem to see and spend time with our heavenly Father. To see his power and glory and to be empowered by his holiness. To be encouraged by his grace. To take a drink of the living water that only can quench our thirst and give us a greater thirst for him.

Let's pray.