Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
2/25 Reading Portions: Exodus 8; Luke 11; Job 25-26; 1 Corinthians 12
Luke 11:2
“When you pray…”
WHEN
When the disciples requested that the Master teach them to pray, He immediately said to them,
“When you pray...”
Prayer is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when.’ It is not an option for the child of God. Prayer is the blessed response of a sinner saved by grace, the loving outpour to and the eager waiting upon the person of God, who has granted us eternal life. Prayer is union and communion with the holy and eternal God, who has given us access to Himself through the substitutionary death of God’s one and only Son. The temple curtain, which separated the holiest place of God’s habitation from all other accoutrements of worship, was torn in two from top to bottom when the Lord Jesus cried His last from the cross and gave up the ghost (Matt 27:51). Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have immediate and unhindered access to the very presence of almighty God. We may speak to Him and hear from Him. Therefore, our whole life is a prayer before almighty God. When should we pray? That’s not the question to consider. The question to consider is ‘when should we not pray?’ We pray when we rise in the morning. We pray as we are in the way. We pray when we are at the gate. We pray when our children ask us questions. We pray when they grow. We pray when they go. We pray while we work and when we repose. We pray when we’re joyful and praising God. We pray when we’re distraught and in need of comfort. We pray when we have requests. We pray with thanksgiving when the requests have been answered. Sometimes, when we sleep, we even pray when we dream. Truly, we must…
pray without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:17
For the Christian, life is prayer; and for the Christian, prayer, union and communion with the triune God, is life.
“Make my life a prayer to You
I wanna do what You want me to;
No empty words and no white lies;
No token prayers, no compromise.”
—Keith Green