Watch and Pray

Its mid September, we are here, some of us have made it to this point in 2020, take a minute to praise the Lord. Its surely been and continues to be an unprecedented year and time / season in the world today. I have appreciated the gift of salvation more and more this year. I keep wondering how those whose Hope is not in the Lord are navigating everything that has been coming at us. More than ever, our hope and confidence has to be in the Lord.

The topic the Lord has impressed on my heart is Prayer. Every Christian has heard about prayer and even prayed. Our faith is rooted in prayer. There is no Christian faith without prayer.

What is Prayer?

Simply put it is communicating with our heavenly Father. We make known to Him what is happening in our lives and He shares His heart for us. Prayer is two ended and thrives in the space of relationship.

Prayer is such a gift and throughout the bible both in the Old Testament and the New Testament,we see the value, and the power in prayer. And that is what my encouragement is about this month; We have to lean on GOD in Prayer.

Take heed, watch and pray for you do not know when the time is. ”-(Mark 13:34 NKJV)

Jesus in giving His disciples this instruction was telling them about how they ought to await His return. We are also waiting for the return of Christ. Truth is most of us (myself inclusive) live like the return of the King is not even in our lifetime. It is some far away concept that does not concern us, However, the way 2020 has set itself up i have had to really reflect on the truth in the wisdom Jesus gives us in His word. Watch and Pray. Watch the times you are in and then pray. Talk to your heavenly Father about them, seek His wisdom on how you ought to respond to them, how you can effectively participate in the extension of His Kingdom in anticipation of His return. Take heed, Watch and Pray. To watch involves to ‘look at or observe attentively over a period of time.’ As we watch intently, we find that we will not run out of prayers , of conversations to have with the Father.

Yes , we see and observe what is happening in the natural realm we are in, however we have the Holy Spirit to give us His insight and perspective in the spiritual realm to understand the happenings in the natural realm. The apostle Paul in His letters to the saints in Ephesus makes mention of this prayer for them :

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, ¹⁸ the eyes of your ^[a]understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power ²⁰ which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,²¹ far above all principality^[b] and ^[c]power and ^[d]might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (Ephesians 1:15-21 NKJV)

Pray for wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. Now more than ever as Christians we need God’s wisdom on how to navigate these unprecedented times. We need God’s perspective on everything that is happening in and around us. We simply need spiritual insight to see God’s glory in the midst of all the darkness.

The Holy Spirit is the one who can open our minds and eyes to see things from God’s perspective. We need Him to help us see , watch and observe and pray accordingly. Spiritual insight is what the church , you and me needs in this time we are in.

1. Simply Ask – Many times we tend to think that in order for God to answer us , we need to make complicated, well scripted , rehearsed prayers. But am here to remind us that prayer is talking / communing with your heavenly Father. So simply speak to Him, ask Him for those requests in the simplest way. I have a toddler and she will request me for anything she needs because we have a mother daughter relationship. And within my abilities i will respond to her request. Its the same with your heavenly Father, infact better because He has no limitations. With a pure heart and no ill intentions when we go before Him and ask He will answer.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8 NIV)

2. God answers prayer– I have always been into writing and keep journals for just about anything and everything. I have a gratitude journal, dream journal, study journal and prayer journals. In my prayer journal, i document the different prayers i make unto the Lord; supplications, requests, big and small it all matters to God. Its the joy of my heart to go back and update the status of the prayers that God has answered. This simple exercise has built my faith and trust in our heavenly Father who truly hears and answers each and every prayer we make. I pray with expectation of answers from God because i have evidence of each and every time He has answered.

3. No prayer is too big or too small for God. Yes, He is interested and very involved in each and every detail of our lives. It is always mind blowing when I see His hands in the tiniest details, and like David i wonder who is man that you are so mindful of Him? Who is Livi that you are so mindful of me ? But that is the loving Father we praise, and worship and choose to live life for. He is amazingly faithful. It is important to remember this about Him especially in the difficult seasons of life.

4. Prayer gives us an opportunity to know the heart of God , and His mind on situations . It is an invitation into the affairs here on earth. God longs to show Himself to us, for us to experience Him entirely and completely and prayer postures and positions us to fully know Him. Our sole purpose here on earth is to know God, to love Him completely. Prayer allows us this incredible honor and opportunity.

How to Pray:

Many people struggle with prayer wondering what to say, how to say it and so many other things that hinder us from enjoying prayer for the gift it truly is. Its okay to not know how to pray, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray; and He taught them the Lord’s prayer. It is great place to begin, to understand what prayer is all about. Exalting God, we come to God acknowledging His Lordship, announcing and inviting His Kingdom here on earth as it is in Heaven, His will to be done in each and every situation we bring Him into, acknowledging He is the provider, invoking His mercy towards our sins and those who sin against us, asking His power to overcome temptation.

You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:2-3)

I will end with a caution, that our motives and heart are always bare before God. We can pretend with people, but never with God who sees each and everything. As we pray, we have to always check be aware that our motives are not ill. We can ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us any ill motives we may not be aware of consciously that we may repent of them. Wrong motives are a serious hindrance to prayer being answered.