Two things about prayer are truly amazing: 1) God listens when we pray. 'You can pray for anything, and if you believe that you have received it, it will be yours’ (Mark 11:24 NLT). He hears every prayer, and when we pray in alignment with His will, He’ll move to meet our requests. 2) We don’t pray enough. We have the greatest privilege imaginable – access to the control centre of the Universe – but we rarely use it. And our lack of prayer surprises God. Through the prophet Ezekiel He lamented: ‘I sought for a man among them who would...stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one' (Ezekiel 22:30 NKJV). When Abraham learned that Sodom and Gomorrah were going to be destroyed, he didn't rush to warn the cities. Instead he chose to ‘[remain] standing before the Lord' (Genesis 18:22 NIV). When God said Israel deserved a nationwide death penalty for the golden calf, Moses interceded and saved them. One paraphrase of Exodus 32:11 says, 'Moses tried to calm his God down' (MSG). An obscure priest called Phinehas begged God not to send the plague, and it was checked (see Psalm 106:30). Prayer is so important and valuable because when we work, we work, but when we pray, God works. Scripture attaches breathtaking power to prayer. The Message paraphrases Matthew 18:19 like this: ‘When two of you get together on anything…and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action' (MSG). Does any other activity promise such results? Did God call us to preach without ceasing? Or have meetings without ceasing? No, but He did call us to 'pray without ceasing'.

What Now?

Most of us don’t pray as often as we should, so today, try doubling the amount of time you usually spend praying.