“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).
A Christian’s prayer life is a reliable barometer of his spiritual condition. The neglect of prayer indicates that the soul is at a low ebb of spiritual power, for God’s Word tells us to be “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” The believer’s attitude ought always to be that “I give myself unto prayer,” for “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much,” and, moreover, “the prayer of the upright is His delight.” “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty,” and we are told to “be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” “My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.” “As for me, I will call upon God. ... Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.” Let us, like Epaphras, be “laboring fervently ... in prayers.”
Prayer is a struggle and battle,
That must come from the very heart,
As we pray for those about us,
To have help to quench Satan’s darts.
Eph. 6:18; Psa. 109:4; James 5:16; Prov. 15:8; 1 Tim. 2:1-2; Phil. 4:6; Psa. 5:3; 55:16-17; Col. 4:12.