Prayer is a lifestyle. Prayer is our lifeline, and we must pray fervently and persistently. Prayer is a gift from God to communicate, draw closer, and develop a deep personal relationship with Him. For our prayer to be effective, it needs passionate and aggressive faith behind it. Prayer is connected to fasting. Through prayer and fasting, we develop a passion for God that supersedes everything else. Matthew 17:21 states, However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. Fasting is a biblical way to truly humble ourselves in the sight of God. King David said, “I humbled myself with fasting.” Please see Psalm 35:13. Fasting enables the Holy Spirit to open our spiritual eyes that our natural eyes would not see, resulting in brokenness, repentance, and a transformed life.
The greatest misfortune isn’t the prayers that are not answered; it’s the prayers that were never offered. Jeremiah 29:12 states, In those days when you pray, I will listen. The Lord not only hears, but He listens to our cries. Christ alone is our cornerstone, and we must draw nigh to Him in prayer as He draws nigh to us even when circumstances aren’t ideal.
We need to guard against complacency. Revelation 3:16 states, But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. The Bible talks about the dangers of complacency and how we should steer clear, as it reads in Webster’s definition of the word “complacency”: “a feeling of being satisfied with how things are and not wanting to try to make them better: self-satisfaction, especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.”
This is a very dangerous place to be in, and as I’m writing, I’m self-examining my walk in the Lord and areas in that I’ve become complacent and lethargic in my spirit. Oftentimes, when I/we pray, we are expecting an immediate answer, and over time, when we pray and nothing happens, we become frustrated and start losing trust in God, and our prayers become passive and not aggressive. Ergo, we become complacent with our prayers.
Complacency takes root in us when we become weak in prayer and our faith dwindles, finding it hard to pray or stop praying altogether. Believe me, I’ve been there, but the Holy Spirit will not leave us nor forsake us. We must keep on praying even if there are no signs, even if it doesn’t make sense, even if you can no longer hear the voice of God about what you’re going through, only silence. 1 Thessalonians 5:17, states, pray without ceasing. Prayer changes things, so keep on praying until something happens.