Seven Pillars of Christian Living

A few years ago I wrote a handbook entitled "The Seven Pillars of Successful Christian Living." I will be posting each chapter over the next few weeks. They were written to be geared toward the new convert, but I think everyone can benefit from making sure our lives are built on a solid foundation. I hope and pray they are a blessing to you.

Pillar #1-Prayer

 

This is it. This is the key. You will not have to read this entire series to discover the key to your success. It is here at the beginning of this handbook that you will find the foundation to your Spiritual success. The challenge that we face in talking about prayer is where to start. This is a subject that spans from the first book of the Bible to the last. There have been countless books written on the subject of prayer. Thousands of sermons have been preached about the power of prayer. There are prayer journeys and prayer seminars, prayer rooms, prayer teams, the list is endless. So as I said in the introduction, I will not attempt to make an entire study on prayer, I will hit on the main points of prayer, the first one being that you practice it consistently and faithfully. I encourage you to make a further study on prayer, both in your Bible and by reading books on Prayer. In many instances we spend more time talking about prayer, reading about prayer, and preaching about prayer than we do actually praying. So let me begin by saying that you need to pray.

 

    I have listened to countless sermons in my life telling me what the key to revival is, the key being a variety of things. The key is unity, the key is faith, the key is Home Bible Studies, you get the picture. I do not disagree with these things, they are all keys. However, we must understand to be successful in our walk with God, and to see our Church grow and mature spiritually, there is more than one key. It is actually a key chain with all of these things comprising a part of our success. However, the master key that opens all of the doors is Prayer. It is the single most important endeavor that a Christian can make. All the rest of what we do in the Church must have a foundation of prayer to be successful. In Scripture, the disciples did not ask Jesus to teach them to heal the sick. They did not ask to learn how to walk on water or raise the dead. In Luke 11, they simply asked Jesus, "Teach us to pray." The disciples understood that prayer was the foundation for all that Jesus said and done. They noticed after Jesus spent the night in the wilderness praying he walked into the city the next day with great power.

 

    What is Prayer? In the simplest of terms it is communication with God. It is you talking to God, and God talking to you. It is important to understand that in our fast-paced world God does not operate on the same timetable. There are no shortcuts in prayer. Prayer is communication with God, this means not only do you talk to Him, but also He talks to you. As you develop a walk with God, you will learn to hear the voice of God. One of the things I ask God for almost every time I pray is to let me be sensitive to the Holy Ghost, and let me learn to hear and know His voice. Paul said in I Corinthians 14, "There are so many kinds of voices in the world." We are hearing so many things today, it is vital that we know how to distinguish the voice of God from all the other voices in this world.

 

    So how do I Pray? One of the best things you can do is pray with people who know how to pray. Attend every prayer meeting, and be in the middle of it. As with anything else, be sincere in your prayers. You don't have to sound like anyone else. There is no prayer language except your own language. God isn't impressed by our vocabulary, he wants to hear from our heart. This being said, you must still vocalize your prayers. There is a law of confession in your tongue. Jesus said we have not because we ask not. There are many things in our walk with God we may desire, but if we stop and think about it, we may have never actually asked God for them. Follow the Lords Prayer as an example of how to pray. Begin with praising Him, and then ask Him to cleanse and forgive you for anything that is not right in your life. After this begin to pray for your Church, your Pastor, your loved ones, the list really is endless. There will come a point in prayer that you find the flow of the Spirit and God will guide and direct you in your prayers. Remember you are not alone in this, God is working with you and is on your side. One of the tremendous things about prayer is that it can be difficult to begin a prayer meeting, and then once you get going, it is difficult to stop. Remember the purpose of prayer isn't to "feel" God. It is to feel after God. Just because you do not feel in your emotions like you want to when you pray does not make that prayer any less powerful. There may be times when you feel like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling and falling back into the room, but you are touching Heaven.

 

    One of the things I encourage you to do is to find a prayer closet. This is not an actual location, but rather a time of prayer where it is just you and God and no one else. I am a big believer in this. It is absolutely vital that you pray with others, attend prayer meetings, and pray around others. But there also must be times when you are alone with God. There are some things you need to talk about and vocalize to God that you will not do when others are around. There are battles and struggles in your life that no one else knows about that you wouldn't dare let someone hear you talk to God about. But they need to be discussed with Him. There may be things that you need to confess to Him, that can only be done in your prayer closet.

Jesus said in Matthew 6, "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."

 

    I would like to give you some final words on prayer. Jesus said that some things don't happen except by prayer and fasting. There are battles that will not be won except by prayer and fasting. There are spiritual strongholds that Satan holds in our cities that will not be defeated unless we pray. There is no amount of singing, no amount of preaching, no amount of giving that will bring us victory in some areas. Prayer must be made always. Paul said "Pray without Ceasing." In other words don't ever stop praying. Pray when you're tired, pray when you're not tired, pray when you're happy, pray when you're sad, but don't ever stop praying. Powerful Churches are praying Churches. Powerful saints are praying saints. People who backslide, or quit living for God are never people who live and walk in the Spirit. The key to your success is walking in the Spirit through prayer.