I am afraid that we many times think of prayer as an ancient practice, thinking that it is not a power for the days in which we live. A believer who is devoted and completely committed to prayer is on the cutting edge of finding biblical discernment for his life direction, seeking wisdom from God for answers to life's questions, and doing spiritual warfare for gaining victory in the spiritual battle in which we find ourselves.
Prayer is at the cutting edge of everything we do; it must be central to every ministry including worship. "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." (Ephesians 6:18) Anything we attempt to do on our own, that is disconnected and apart from the power of God, will result in failure or simply human accomplishment that falls far short of the best God wants for us. We must be continually speaking to God in trusting, believing prayer and allowing Him to speak to us through His Word.
We have come to depend on anything and everything in our arsenal of programs, ideas, work, even "ministry" rather than bathing everything we do in prayer. Too many times we plan, put leadership in place, get financial resources, purchase materials, set a date and after all that is done, we ask God to bless "our" work. We need to pay the price of persistent, consistent, committed praying from the very beginning of anything we do, including our personal and corporate worship. It is the only way that we will truly see God's power at work among us. We must bathe every part of our worship, both our personal and corporate (gathered) worship in prayer, if we are to see God accomplish all He is desiring to do among us. Let us recommit ourselves to the hard work of prayer for one another's personal worship life and every part of the worship life of our church. mjm
