Life without prayer is a road to nowhere

Good day to you, dear readers of „Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”! May God bless you and keep you from all evil on this day!Yesterday we established that lack of prayer is a sign of spiritual illness and a sin. When we truly understand this truth, then we are ready to repent and start praying. Repentance means making a 180 degree turn; it means changing. Life without prayer is a road to nowhere. And I don’t want to walk on this road.When a person repents, he can start developing his prayer life. We must know that God does not turn away from us even when we do not pray. God is very patient and He wants us to understand that without prayer we are spiritually weak and unable to enter the things He has prepared for us. Effective prayer is the thing that opens a way for us and allows God to walk ahead of us. God waits until we come to full realization of it. He is good to His children, but His goodness must lead us to repentance. Many people do not understand it. Sometimes we do things that go against God’s orders and at the same time we feel like it is alright. We say, „I was expecting some trouble, but everything is alright”. It leads to deception. God’s goodness is not a licence to sin, but an opportunity to repent.

“…the goodness of God leads you to repentance” (Romans, 2:4).

God never leaves a person just because he has done something wrong. But God waits for His goodness to bring him to repentance and not serve as a licence to sin. Do you remember Samson? He sinned, but the Holy Spirit came upon him anyway and he was able to lift up the city gates and carry them. Everyone so admired him. He was so strong! But where did he get his strength? From God. Was God blind at the time when Samson sinned? Didn’t He see what Samson was doing? Wasn’t it a sin? God sees and knows everything! God showed Samson His goodness so that Samson would repent. We see that Samson did not repent. So what happened to him? He lost his eyesight. Samson did not realize that God’s goodness leads to repentance and not to sinning. It is not normal if there is no spiritual effort in our lives; if we live without praying and consider it to be alright. God’s mercy covers us, and praise God for it. But His goodness must lead us to repentance. Let’s be ready to repent whenever we feel that we have been neglecting prayer. Ask God to give you the desire to pray, and God will help you with it. Tell God, “Father, give me the desire to pray! Awaken my heart! I need You! I want to live wholesome Christian life!»Wholesome Christian living means stable relationship with God. Apostle Paul gives a good advice:

“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians, 5:17).

May God’s mercy and grace follow you throughout this day!Till tomorrow!Pastor Rufus Ajiboye