#19.

The New Testament writers exhort, encourage and command us to pray

Last week, we saw just how prominent prayer was in the lives of the Apostles, and we may have
been tempted to think that we are not called to such devotion to prayer as they were.

So this week, we want to see what these men actually called the church to be and to do in regard
to prayer. A brief review of the Scriptures will show us:

Romans 12:9–12 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be
devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; 11 not
lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, persevering
in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

Romans 15:30 Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit,
to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,

1 Corinthians 7:5 Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may
devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of
your lack of self-control.

Ephesians 6:18–19 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in
view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my
behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with
boldness the mystery of the gospel,

Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;

1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing;

1 Timothy 2:1–2 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and
thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we
may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

1 Timothy 2:8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without
wrath and dissension.

James 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to
sing praises.
1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the
purpose of prayer.

Jude 20–21 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the
Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord
Jesus Christ to eternal life.

It seems clear from these Scriptures that the Apostles expected the church (and that means us
too!) to follow their example of devotion to prayer. Where the verses above use the word
"devote" or "devoted", the Greek has 2 words. One of them means "to continue to do something
with intense effort, with the possible implication of despite difficulty" while the other means "to
engage actively and earnestly in some activity over a period of time"

This, then, is the commitment to prayer that the Apostles urge upon us - it is the same
commitment they demonstrated themselves and they arrived at this commitment by observing
Jesus and following His example. We are to pray in the Spirit, with intense effort, without
ceasing, soberly, with sound judgment and never without thanksgiving.

There is none of us who may consider, in the light of these verses, that we have "arrived" in
regard to prayer. None of us has reached the devotion to it that characterized the life of Jesus or
the lives of His Apostles. The good news is that a new week is about to begin and that (God
willing) we can renew our efforts each day to be devoted to prayer. We can encourage one
another in this pursuit at the church prayer meeting too!

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