”But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly… we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word” (Matthew 6:6; Acts 6:4). Revival and exploit are the desire of every believer, but these cannot be achieved unless there is an effective and growing prayer life. Prayer life translates to the closet life of a believer. Prayer life is the pillar of personal spirituality and public service. A believer in the first instance a private Christian, his closet is his armory from where he obtains arsenal of weapons to ensure daily victory in life’s battles.The prayer and closet life approximate or affect a believer’s:
Worth: A believer is what he is on his knees that he is and no more. The influence we yield for God’s glory, men’s good and hell’s devastation is diversely proportional to our prayer life. Walk: life can never be better than the quality of prayer life.Winsome: you are as pure as you are, prayerful souls dwell in the holy atmosphere of the father’s presence, hence they are kept sweet, holy and pure.
Warfare: prayer is the determinant of life’s warfare to pray is to prevail.Witnessing: a believer’s prayers give wings, power, pungency, and penetrating might to his preaching.In summary, the time of a believer strength, sensitivity, spirituality, and solemnity his is prayer life.Revival and exploit cannot come by mere wishing; they must be brought down by strong prayers. That is what was done by the saints of old.Abraham set up early in the morning (Genesis 19:27), Job rose early in the morning (Job 1:5), David prayed in the morning,noon and evening (Psalm 55:17), Daniel kneel upon his knees three times a day.(Daniel 6:10), Apostles gave themselves to prayers (Acts 6:4), Paul prayed night and days (1 Thessalonians 3:10), and Epaphras labored fervently in prayers (Colossians 4:12). No wonder the saints of old had revival and did exploit in their times. We should also rise and resolve to give ourselves continually to prayers.We learn to pray by praying and we grow in prayers by praying. We must be committed to:Periods of prayer: Sacred, sanctified hours for effectual fervent prayers. “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer,being the ninth hour” (Acts 3:1).Place(s) of prayer: severe,tranquil or quiet place to facilitate deep concentration and devotion in communion (Genesis 19:27).Partner(s) in prayer: seriously and serially prayer with devout saints who are prayerful. “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven”.
(Matthew 18:19).Prohibition of possible distractions: simply delegate and supervise all tasks so as to concentrate on all important duty of prayers.There is no doubt; a believer who prays will surely have success in life and ministry. Join the band of believers to pray for this latter time harvest of souls into God’s kingdom.There is personal and corporate success through prayer. Patriarchs and Prophets of Old Testament experience stupendous achievement in life and ministry through prayer. In the New Testament Apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers accomplished supernatural feats through prayer. The church prayed for the release of Peter, the work of the ministry expanded as the leadership determined to give themselves continually to prayers among other things. Paul enjoined the Romans Christians to strive together in prayer for him (Romans 15:30-32).
When in 1890 Albert Simpson, the author of Jesus only is our message, challenges his congregation to prayer pledge. It was said that the alliance people were not fulfilling the task for which they were organized. Contribution were meager and missionary candidates few. But in 1891, after the church had signed to a prayer of pledge, the floodgates of contributions and consecrations were opened. At the end of the year, the alliance had 100 missionaries, and had received funds for their transportation and support. In less than 10 years over 350 missionaries had been sent abroad and the churches multiplied throughout North America. What a challenge on what a praying congregation and praying Christians could achieve!