Pray – Should we?

Should we pray?  Must we pray?  Absolutely, the history of the church and its advance is one of prayer.  Whether we are talking about Pentecost and the reception of the Spirit and the harvest of 3000 souls, or the release of Peter from prison while the church prayed, or the setting apart of Paul and Barnabas while the church prayed, Prayer is the central element.

Unfortunately too many Christians have forgotten the call to pray.  Many believers rarely pray with others.  Many churches can’t get people to show up at prayer meetings.  This is unfortunate.  If we could just remember the truth that prayer changes things, then we would see and experience a completely different world.  Let’s not forget the wisdom of the past:

Samuel M. Zwemer, a missionary and Christian scholar on Islam, said: “The history of missions is the history of answered prayer…it is the key to the whole missionary problem. All human means are secondary.”

J. Oswald Sanders said: “[Prayer] is fundamental, not supplementary…. All progress can be clearly traced back to prevailing prayer.”

For a great article on prayer, read this Voice of the Martyrs post.