Do Christians Have To Pray?
Have you ever heard the saying, a prayerless saint is a powerless saint?
I’ve heard it plenty of times before and now I want to share with you just how important that saying is.
When I was in college my professor brought up a discussion relating to church; one of my classmates proudly raised her hand and claimed that she believed in God but she didn’t believe you had to go to church to have a relationship with God.
At the time, I kept my mouth shut—totally uninterested in the conversation and bored out of my mind—I knew right away it was impossible to talk any sense into that girl, even if I did speak up. But her words stuck with me; as she announced her very twisted views, she was awarded with applause and rigorous head-nodding from the rest of the class. It seemed she was not alone in her beliefs. That was what troubled me most.
Shockingly, I had another strange encounter in college with a different student who explained to me that she didn’t believe Christians needed to sing, dance, fast, or pray very loudly or deeply in order to have a relationship with God. She looked at me very seriously and said; God can hear you just fine, He can even hear your thoughts. It doesn’t take so much to have a relationship with God because He knows how you really feel inside.
There are people on this earth who truly believe they have a free pass to heaven because they simply believe in God. There are people on this earth calling themselves Christians yet avoiding church and brushing off prayer because they think it doesn’t take so much to have a relationship with God.
So, what does it take?
I Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV says, Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
I don’t think I need to say much beyond that. The Word speaks for itself; God’s will for us is to pray continually—the King James Version of the Holy Bible says to pray without ceasing. If you continue reading, you’ll see that the next verse reinforces the instruction for us to pray.
Do not quench the spirit. I Thessalonians 5:19 NIV
At first glance, it may seem like Paul is warning Believers not to satisfy the spirit. The term quench is typically used when we want a drink—quench your thirst! But quench also has another definition; it means to extinguish or smother.
In other words, the Bible is telling us not to smother the Spirit.
It is God’s will for us to pray and rejoice and give thanks to Him—when we do not do these things, we are smothering our spirit.
You simply cannot have an effective relationship with God without prayer. Prayer is how you spend time with your Father, it is how you communicate with the one who loves you more than you love yourself. How on earth can you excuse or justify a lack of prayer in your life?
My friend, do not make the mistake of leaving God out of your life. I’m not saying that praying 10 hours a day will necessarily make you a better Christian than one who prays less than that. But I am saying a Christian who does not understand the importance of prayer is a Christian without an established relationship with Christ.
You don’t have to agree with anything I’m saying—just look at the Word and see for yourself exactly how important prayer is. Decide if you are going to smother your spirit. Decide if you are going to act against God’s will for you.
Prayer is not an option as a Christian.
A prayerless saint is not just a powerless saint; one could argue, they are not a saint at all.
Want to strengthen your prayer life? Find encouraging articles here.