Make time for what matters today. Prayer is a resource the devil cannot take away from you easily unless you let him. It will quickly restore you into the presence of God who will hold your hand and teach you how to fight. It will put you back on your feet as you learn the war strategies. You will have spiritual ammunition for each day as you get trained in faith for battle. Yes! Prayer is that wonderful ammunition with world-wide effects that is available to you right away. God does not leave you alone in battle. He loves you! He desires to see you equipped and ready to stand in battle until He returns. Make time for what matters today and pray.

Pray. Sincere, honest, travailing prayer that gets tasks accomplished in the spiritual realms takes hard work. It calls for a lot of concentration and engaging God in a manner that actually means business. It is approaching Him in faith believing that He will listen and do as petitioned, or if not, act in accordance to His perfect will for the situation. It believes God and trusts His Word to be true (see 1 John 5:14). Those who come to Him must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6b). Seeking God calls for diligence. Travailing prayer calls for agonizing with total intensity as though the outcome was only dependent on that prayer

Have you told God about it? Prayer is a great privilege for the Christian. It is a moment when the great God who created the universe and all the starry hosts welcomes us into His presence, allowing us to speak our mind to Him as we seek His help. It is a special time for us to partner with Him in shaping history and being co-laborers in His vineyard. It is a special privilege and opportunity that should not be taken lightly. The Bible makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 10:11 that what is recorded is for our example. There are moments in our lives when God expects us to agonize over the situations that surround us. Don’t carry your burdens alone. Take them to God in prayer.

Earnest prayer calls for total dedication. For you to engage in effective prayer, it will take a deliberate act of your will. It will call for making time and purposing to pray; otherwise, it may not yield significant results. It may be so easy to read a magazine at odd times and not fall asleep. The opposite is true of prayer. No sooner do you bow your head in prayer than the warm, cozy, sleepy feeling envelops you. Prayer engages heaven; thus we cannot assume that there will be no opposition to it.

Prayer calls for tarrying and lingering. Without dedication, no one in his right mind would leave the warmth of his bed to pray very early in the morning, let alone stay up into the late night. On the other hand, one who leaves his bed that early and stays up into the night does not go to play around instead of praying. These are they who will want every hour to count as they engage God in life changing prayer. Like Jacob of old (Genesis 32:22-32) they will wrestle with God until He intervenes in their situations, saves souls or shows up in unique ways. There are times when we should take but a few minutes to pray. God hears and answers these prayers. There are other times when we have to take time to tarry and linger on with God in prayer.

Your upbringing will greatly affect the way you pray. If you have grown up seeing people spend a minute or two in prayer, you may think that is all there is to prayer. Unfortunately, this kind of prayer will not take you through the many challenges of life. Most of the time you will find yourself empty and unprepared to face the day. Thanks be to God who woos us to Himself as He calls on us to pray. He challenged the disciples is Matthew 26:40; “What, could ye not watch with me one hour?” He knew the “Lord, please bless Jesus tonight” prayer could not suffice for that great hour of need. It was a time for them to tarry and linger in prayer. Pray, this is God’s method of choice for meeting your needs.

God is waiting to hear you today. Prayer is a ministry with a world-wide influence. God hears and answers prayer. Prayer is that effective spiritual ammunition that has a world-wide influence. I am sure you have heard wonderful testimonies of what God does in answer to prayer. I believe as a Christian you have some monumental markers in your life where God answered your earnest prayer. The Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. (Isaiah 59:1) Pray. Prayer knows no boundaries. God is waiting to hear you today.