Prayer is the most important part of the Christian life.

Prayer was also an important part of Jesus’ life, and prayer is the backbone of the Christian life. We cannot survive without prayer, as fish cannot survive without water or a bird is nothing without air. In the same way, Christian life is nothing without prayer.

Sometimes we wonder why we should pray? When God is looking at us and knows our misery, we might think that He should solve our problems without prayer, but this is not the Christian attitude. Prayer increases our confidence in God. We may not really know what is prayer. In this article, I want to describe what is really prayer.

What is prayer?

“Prayer is a personal communication with God.” (Like a child talking to his father). When we do not pray it means, we have no relationship with God and without a relationship, he will not listen.

Prayer shows that we are obedient to God. While I was visiting Dr. David Yonggi Cho’s church in South Korea, a quotation was written on the wall by Dr. Yonggi Cho, “I pray and obey.”

Obedience always brings spiritual and physical blessings. “Prayer is like a Dove that Noah sent forth which blessed him not only when it returned with that olive leaf in her mouth.” I encourage the readers to start their communication with God through prayer, and they will get a physical blessing from Him.

Result of prayer

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. Acts 12:1-5

In this passage, it is described that when Peter was in jail the church was praying for him. God listened to their prayers and released Peter from jail. Prayer can make every impossible work possible because there is power in prayer.

Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 
And Moses said unto Joshua, "Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand."
So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hands, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hands, Amalek prevailed.
But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon. And Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
And the LORD said unto Moses, "Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi: [The-Lord-is-My-Banner]
For he said, "Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Exodus 17:8-16

God had told Moses to lift up his hands and he would win the battle.

As long as you will pray and lift up your hands for help from the Lord, you will win. We should always lift up our hands and pray because we are fighting against evil and we have to win this battle.

Let us start the habit of prayer because right now the world is in need of prayer and the church’s duty is to pray for them. Many problems surround us and we can be the victims of problems. If you want to get rid of them, kindly start praying today and obey God through prayer, even in your trouble. You will experience the power of prayer and God will set you free, as he did with Peter. You will get a spiritual and physical blessing.

Taste and see how wonderful is our God.

Amen.

Pastor Barkat is a graduate of Punjab University. After receiving a call to ministry in 1999 he attended Gujranwala Theological Seminary, graduating in 2003 with a Master of Divinity (His thesis covered a Biblical model of house churches.) Upon graduating he started pastoral ministry with the Anglican Church and was ordained in 2004, working within that church in different positions until mid 2015 when he got the opportunity for a short training program on Pneumatology from South Korea. Suneel currently is a visiting teacher in an evangelical Bible College empowered by Korean Mission in Pakistan, as well as doing independent teaching and preaching ministry. He has established many Bible study groups and I have passion to preach in remote areas of Pakistan.