Daily Devotional For Thursday, May 1, 2025
Good morning Southside. Prayer is a spiritual discipline we all know we should do, but if the surveys are correct, most Christians do not pray except mainly at meals and in a crisis. I was listening to an old crusade by Billy Graham and he said that one of his daughters, he didn’t say which one, gets up 2 hours before anyone else solely to pray literally on her knees for 2 hours for her children, family and God’s will. Now that is a prayer warrior.
I think our Lord would be pleased if we all prayed more to Him during the day than just at meals and in distress. I think our Lord is more interested in the consistently of our prayers than the length of them. Do not misunderstand me, I am not criticizing Billy Graham’s daughter. I am thrilled she has the time and the desire to do this. It makes me wonder how much more better our families would be if we all prayed more than at meals, or in a crisis or when we are called on to pray.
Look at Psalm 119:147-148, “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in Your word. (148) My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on Your promises” (NIV). Once a week on a Tuesday a group of people gather at Southside at 7:00 AM to pray. I believe that is why we have been seeing people come to Christ; people rededicate their lives to Christ; an excitement and a growth in attendance. I believe God honors prayer. But so many of us tend to live by the motto, “If it is to be, it’s up to me.”
We are prideful people who many times do not want to feel or be dependent on anyone, even God. The early believers knew the power of prayer, too. Even though the rulers had tried to shut them down, they prayed, “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Then “the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:30, 31, NIV). They prayed for God to act, and He did!
I hope that through this journey, prayer will become a regular part of your day. I hope you will learn to pray with all the resolve and preparation of a warrior walking onto a battlefield. And when the Lord answers your prayer, give Him all the glory He deserves. You will remind yourself and others just how powerful He is, and you will want to turn to Him again and again. In “The Lord’s Prayer,” which I call “The Disciples’ Prayer,” in Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus gave us a model of not only how to pray, but the order we are to pray.
To be painfully transparent with you, most of the stuff I have ever read or heard said about prayer has either left me under a mountain of guilt or wearied me with pious-sounding clichés and meaningless God-talk. I thought, “If I don’t spend two or three grueling hours a day on my knees as dear such-and-such did . . . or because I wasn’t able to recall from memory dozens of Scripture verses through my prayer . . . or because I had not been successful in moving mountains,” I picked up the distinct impression that I was incompetent in this spiritual discipline and would be for the rest of my natural life.
Jesus criticized the religious leaders of His day for their long, wordy, showy prayers meant to draw attention to themselves and not to the Lord. The challenge we face today when we pray is the same challenge the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots and scribes faced is turning prayer into some kind of memorized, prepackaged, elaborate show rather than a spontaneous flow from our heart to God’s heart. Prayer went from “I want to” to “I have to.” Forced prayers never are sincere.
Assignment: Consider this, based on Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:1-2, 5, 16, do not be hypocritical. Don’t lift yourself up while comparing yourself to others, thus putting them down as in Luke 18:10-14. Remember, you are a sinner standing before Holy God. Second, Jesus told us not to use a lot of repetition – See Matthew 6:7-8. All of us have the tendency to use the same words over and over in every prayer. That is not prayer. Try praying without using the common words most people use: leave out these words in your prayer: “bless,” “guide,” “lead,” “help” and “use.” Just see how hard that will be. When it is meal time, instead of one person saying “grace,” as if they can give grace – only God can – have each person go around the table and give thanks. And third, forgive anyone who has hurt or harmed you. That was Jesus’ point in Matthew 5:44 and Matthew 6:14-15. Prayer is not a marathon. It is an antiphon.
Scripture To Consider: Matthew 6:5, Jesus said, “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: Heavenly Father, thank You that when I pray, I enter Your presence. Teach me how to pray and show me what it means to be a person who prays. Help me value prayer in a new way—as a fragrant offering to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly