Are you a praying person?

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”
Luke 18:1‭, ‬8 NLT
Then he said, “Now pick up the other arrows and strike them against the ground.” So the king picked them up and struck the ground three times. But the man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck the ground five or six times!” he exclaimed. “Then you would have beaten Aram until it was entirely destroyed. Now you will be victorious only three times.”
2 Kings 13:18‭-‬19 NLT
Today, I'd like to share with you three examples from the Bible about prayer. Before we go any further, you will have heard it said that prayer is powerful. No, prayer itself is not powerful. The God who made the Heavens and Earth is the One who listens to prayer and He is powerful. And it's our privilege to present our prayer requests to Him knowing that He hears us.
The first example we have is from the life of Elijah. He prayed earnestly for there not to be rain. And then three and a half years later, he prayed seven times for there to be rain. And God answered his prayer. He was an ordinary man like you and I, but the consistency and persistency is something we're encouraged to take away from his life.
The second example is taken from Jesus' teaching on the persistent widow who sought justice from an unjust judge. Jesus ends this example with a question: when He returns to earth a second time, will He find faith on the earth? Faith presses in. Our faith must be bold. I recently was reminded of how people of faith pray big prayers because we have a big God listening to us. How bold are you going to be in your prayer life?
The final example is taken from a story in Kings about the prophet Elisha who went to see the King of Israel to declare victory over Aram by shooting arrows out of the palace window. It was a prophetic declaration of what God was going to do and the victory God was going to bring. But the king wasn't too sure, so he shot three arrows onto the ground and stopped. Now, you'd be thinking that three times is enough, but what the point of this passage is that when God declares a word over your situation, it's not enough to accept it and pray over it for a while before stopping. The point is for us not to stop. To pray unceasingly.
Are you a praying person? I know I'm not. It's not something I naturally do. Prayer takes time, discipline and commitment. That's why, when the church calls for people to pray, few volunteer. We want to see the results of prayer but are not willing to put in the tears and time that are involved behind the scenes. Prayer ministry is something that's often overlooked because it's not loud and eye-catching like worship leading. But God is calling us back to pray. To be completely dependent on Him. Let's ask Him to make us people who turn first to Him in prayer.

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