Author: Pastor Rufus Ajiboye

Prayer is a very important and necessary part of our spiritual life and can be compared to breathing, which is vital for our physical life. In other words, prayer is our spiritual breathing. The one who is not breathing is not alive. In the very same way, prayer is what makes us alive in spiritual sense. Thus, without prayer we are spiritually dead. This year we have talked a lot about serving God, and it is very important as well. We need to serve God! We need to serve people! But we will never be effective in our ministry to God and people without effective prayer.Remember it!

We have been talking about prayer as the source of revelation and guidance in our lives. Yesterday, we saw that through prayer and fellowship with God, Jesus knew what and how He must do or speak. Jesus said,

“Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19)

After Jesus had taught in the temple, He spent nights on the Mount of Olives. There is no doubt, that He met the Father there and they had fellowship, but the next morning He brought a fresh Word for the people who came thirsty to hear this Word.

Jesus said that He received the Word and message from the Father. How did He manage this? Thanks to His prayers! Jesus drew near to God in prayer and God approached Him. The result of fellowship between Jesus and the Father, was the fact that God gave Jesus the Word and message. God revealed to Jesus what needed to be done, as well as when and with what to do it. As a result, Jesus always did miracles.

Here´s where the secret of success of Jesus was hidden! Here´s where Moses´ success lay! Here´s where God is hiding the key to success for all the men and women during all the history of the Church.

Moses received messages from God because he spent time with Him.

If you want to be effective servant of God, whatever the quality of your ministry would be, you must learn to receive the messages from God.

God knows the needs of people whom you serve. He will always give you fresh manna that the people whom you serve would be fed and encouraged every day. If you want to be a successful Christian, allow God to give you a fresh word from heaven every day. Then you will always be fresh and fruitful.

«Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that on of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples» (Luke, 11:1)

The disciples understood that the presence of God in the life of Jesus was closely related to His ability to pray, and they decided to watch Him no more. They realized that they also can come into this presence; that is why they asked Jesus about it.

Why was God with Him? Was it because He was the Son of God? I don’t think so. Don’t forget that Jesus also was the Son of Man. He was born in flesh, was raised in a family, and grew physically, intellectually and spiritually.

«And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men» (Luke, 2:52).

We have been talking about God’s presence in our lives. As we have discussed, God’s presence makes all the difference in our lives. It makes us strong. It makes us wise. We can experience God’s presence through fervent praying, through cleansing and purifying of our hearts, though brokenness and humility before God, and through holy and godly living.

Moses made prayer a priority in order to secure God’s presence in his life and ministry; for this reason he set up a special tent where all the seekers of God were invited to come.

«Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up» (James, 4:8-10)

From the verses above we see that sin and adultery distance a person from God and block His presence, His power and glory from manifesting. So, besides prayer, there are other things that bring us closer to God and bring His presence into our lives: those are repentance and commitment to live a holy life.

How can we experience God’s presence in our lives?

Possibly, there are several ways to do it, but it is very important to realize that it is impossible to experience God’s presence without prayer. God left the recipe of how to experience His presence in His Word.

«Draw near to God and He will draw near to you» (James, 4:8а)

«For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth» (Exodus, 33:16).

God’s presence makes us stronger and more glorious. If God’s presence is so necessary, then how can we experience it in our lives?