Monday, June 23, 2025
Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should. Ephesians 6:18-20 CSB
Pastor Jim has been taking us through a series on Sunday morning called Deeper: Developing Spiritual Habits. Spiritual habits are disciplines we put into our lives that place us in a position to hear from God and allow Him to take us deeper into life with Christ. As a follower of Jesus, our lives should look a little different to the world. These disciplines are what shape us into a follower of Jesus that points those around us straight to him. They help us grow deeper into a relationship with him where we can be transformed to look like him.
Prayer draws us closer to God where we can know him deeper. How do we pray? Some new believers and even some more mature believers sometimes don’t pray because they don’t feel like they know how. But we can all pray, and God wants to hear from us all.
Pastor Jim gave us some points as to how we can pray:
At all times… We have complete access to God all day, every day. We should be in constant communication with him consistently. We should bring our praises, requests, and heartaches to him but we should also listen for his guidance and promptings. Be sensitive and open to these gentle nudges from him and be willing to be obedient to his direction.
In the Spirit… The Holy Spirit is a helper for us, given to us by God when we become believers. He is by our side at all times and as Christ followers in a relationship with him, we are stepping where he steps. He goes before God for us when we don’t know what to pray or can’t pray. He intercedes for us.
In many different ways… Every moment is the right time for prayer but there are some specific moments in life when we need to pray. God sends people across our path that needs prayer, maybe in that exact moment. He lays people on our hearts, and we come across prayer needs from others. All these are important promptings from him not to be ignored. If someone crosses your mind, it is probably not a coincidence.
Persevere… Be intentional about giving God your undivided attention in prayer. Don’t get distracted or give up. Have you been praying for something or someone for a long time and stopped because it seemed that God was not hearing you. Keep bringing it before God.
Pray for all believers and specifically… We should pray for all believers around the world sharing the gospel. Some are being persecuted. Some are in dangerous places. Some are sharing the gospel at work, in their neighborhood, schools, and grocery store. We all need to pray for believers everywhere. We also need to pray for specific Christians who have specific prayer requests.
How should we pray and how does prayer help shape us more into the image of Christ?
Prayer is a lifestyle of walking and talking to Jesus. When we live our lives in prayer – a lifestyle of constant walking and talking with him, we will become like him. The time we spend with him changes us. It transforms us to look like him in all we say and do. There is no trick to it – just pray.
How is your prayer life?
What needs to change for you to connect to God, know his will, and be transformed into his image?
