Fighting the Good Fight in Prayer

Of all the things the Christian life involves, it is hard to identify an aspect that is more important than prayer. Phil Ryken, pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, correctly states that there can be “no effective preaching, no persuasive evangelism, no committed discipleship, no authentic mercy, and no cultural transformation without fervent prayer.” Martin Luther called prayer “the real calling of all Christians.”

Most, if not all, Christians would heartily affirm such claims, and yet admit to feelings of great weakness when it comes to prayer. I have yet to meet a Christian who thinks his or her prayer life is as strong as it could be or should be. Many carry a heavy load of guilt because of this, but it bears mentioning that being faithful in prayer
is not easy. The practice of prayer places us on a field
of battle that requires us to engage in spiritual warfare and disciplined struggle.

Consider that we have an adversary who wants to prevent us from praying. The devil will tempt us through constant (sometimes self-induced) distraction, interruptions, sloth, and busyness — even busyness with ministry — to hinder our prayers. If we wait until “the time is right” or until “I’m in the right mood” for prayer, we will likely not pray at all. We must fight to remain faithful in prayer.

And we must fight not only with the devil, but with ourselves — against the sinfulness of our flesh that is disinclined to go to God and too proud to admit our complete and utter dependence upon God for the most basic things of life. In addition, our prayer life can be hindered due to sin in our life with which we refuse to part. We also struggle with prayer because, according to Scripture, we do not know how to pray (Rom. 8:26). For these reasons, we need to understand that prayer is a battle that must be fought, and that we need help to pray diligently, consistently, faithfully, and with wisdom.

Fortunately, God helps us in prayer. First, He has given us His Spirit to enable us and strengthen us in prayer (Rom. 8:26). Second, He has given His Word to guide and direct us in prayer. We ought to become familiar with the language of Scripture in order to be instructed in how to pray.  The Psalms are extremely helpful in this area. Note how Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the fish seems to reflect an intimate familiarity with the Psalms. In addition to the Psalms, Jesus has taught us how to pray in the Lord’s Prayer (Mat. 6:9–13).

There is a third help God has given us in the spiritual battle with prayer: He has given us fellow soldiers to fight with us and for us. Note the communal nature of the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer: our Father, give us this day our daily bread; lead us not into temptation. Jesus assumes that we will be in prayer for each other in private (Mat. 6:6), but also with each other in the communion of the saints. As a united spiritual army marching under King Jesus, times of communal prayer are essential.

There are many opportunities to pray for and with one another at New Life. One way is through involvement in a LIFE Group. Another is through our monthly prayer meetings. Please consider attending our monthly prayer service at 6:00pm in the sanctuary. There is currently much to pray for in the life of the church and it is important to thank God for what he is doing, to seek His direction in the decisions that are ahead, and to pray with and for each other.

In His Grace,

Brian