Why you should pray every day
Green Pastures' Founding Director, Pastor Pete Cunningham, shares his wisdom in a series of devotional blogs. This week, he talks about why you should pray every day.
In the book of Colossians in the last chapter it says that we need to devote our prayer with good intentions and with thankful hearts. When I first became a Christian, my Pastor said to me, "if you really want to be successful," (which I did want to be,) "you need to do four things." The second thing was to talk to Jesus every day.
I've made that a real time of intense devotion to Christ. Every day I spend time alone with him and getting to know him better. I want to encourage you today with your prayer life every morning when you get up you not only read the scriptures but you spend time alone with God.
Alone with God.ç
That is so important. I found over the years as I spend time alone with God that my knowledge of Him has grown and grown. One of the things I love and appreciate about knowing God is because I spend time with Him, I not only speak to Him, tell him I love Him, not only make requests to Him, but because I listen, I learn how to hear His voice. That to me in my Christian life has been so important - hearing the voice of God. Knowing that God is speaking to me and talking to me about where I need to go. I'm not saying that every day God speaks to me but on special moments I know I hear the voice of God and God instructs me of where I should be going and what I should be doing.
Two and a half years ago, I was at a conference for ministers and leaders. The man preached and he was really encouraging me because at that time I wanted to know what the will of God was for my life for the future. I wanted to know what doors were the right doors to go through and what doors were the wrong doors that I didn't need to go through. When he finished preaching he said, únow go and pray it inù, (because sometimes that's what happens at these conventions.) I went off and I was really sincere in my prayer to God.
úGod I really want to know! Please help me to know what your will is for me.ù
In that sincerity of prayer, the heavens were like brass! I never heard a thing! When I came back, I don't know if you are a bit like me, I was a bit disappointed with The Almighty. I said, úGod you know how sincere I am and how close I am to you.ù As I walked back down the aisle I heard the voice of God speak to me he said, úI couldn't answer your prayer.ù I said, úcouldn't answer my prayer?! Why?ù He said,
úbecause there are no doors left on for you. Wherever you want to go, you will go and people will invite you to go to places that you never thought you would.ù
Since then I've had at least 12 or 14 instances where that has happened. I believe that's because over my years I spent time in prayer and getting to know The Almighty.
You might be just beginning on your road. Let me encourage you that as you continue to pray, every morning, seeking God, knowing what He wants for you to do and being obedient to His word, God will encourage you and you will grow.
God bless you!
Pastor Pete Cunningham
Founding Director