Pray – It’s A Verb

Ever feel like the world we live in is slowly crumbling before your eyes and worse yet there seems to be little that you can do to stop the erosion. The current state of our world definitely can make us feel this way, but what do we do when we face these feelings and insurmountable issues? We pray.

As believers, we have a responsibility to prayer and now is a time for us to pray like never before. Why? There are several reasons, but let’s start with the most basic and important reason; G-d has called us to be a people of prayer. In 1 Timothy 2:8  Rav Shaul ( aka Paul)  wrote the following request, “Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.” He urged the believers to pray because he knew how critical prayer is to the life of a believer and because he was following the example of Yeshua. Yeshua was a great man of prayer who we know set aside time to pray regularly and fervently. His prayers led to change, which ties right into our second point.

Our prayers are effective in producing change because Yeshua and His power lives inside of us. When we pray, we can and must expect to see the answers to our prayers as we pray G-d’s will. James wrote the following, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16). How exciting is that? Each time we pray, through G-d’s power, our prayers become a powerful and effective means to combat the darkness we face. All the more reason to press into prayer, especially when there is little we can do in the natural. Prayer should always be the first choice, however, prayer becomes even more important when we don’t have the ability to partner with G-d in practical ways due to the restrictions created by the situations in our lives.

Which bring me to my last point, prayer helps us focus on G-d increasing our trust and faith in Him while also bringing us hope. Prayer is a two way conversation, so as we pray G-d is faithful to respond with encouragement and the answers to our prayers, even if in multiple steps. For example, my synagogue called a day of prayer and fasting regarding the terrible situation the community of faith is facing due to the virus, and the next day we got news that we would be able to meet in person. G-d is always moving, can I get an amen? I’m going to assume you it gave to me 😉 This gives us the hope we need to continue to press in to Him, and as we commit ourselves to prayer our faith and trust grows because we are relying on G-d to meet our needs and the needs of those around us.

I hope that this encourages you to press into prayer and that change will come as we trust in G-d. Feel free to comment below and don’t forget to like and share.