MORNING MANNA             7/16/20

My very first sermon fifty four years ago was about prayer. I’ve probably read more books about prayer than any other subject. Prayer has been the cause for my greatest successes and the area of my worst failures. That might seem strange to you, but I believe it is true. There have been times when God gave me a great victory or blessing through prayer which caused me to think “Now I’ll pray more than ever”. But it wasn’t long before I found myself right back in the rut – neglecting to pray as I should. Prayer is a struggle. It’s a problem area for most of us. The worst thing however is that prayerlessness is sin. That makes this a serious matter – something we should avoid.

The seriousness of prayerlessness can be seen in several ways. It is a —
– sin against God.
– sign of deficiency in our spiritual life.
– stumbling block to winning souls.
– shortcoming in the church.

The causes contributing to prayerlessness are many. It might be doubt, distractions, delay, despair, depression, etc. Whatever the cause, the consequences are the same. We need to keep that thought before us all the time. In some ways this is one of the most difficult sins to admit. No one wants to confess that they aren’t praying as they should. But we can not expect things to improve unless we do.

Prayer is more than a subject to be studied or a ritual to repeat. It is a discipline to be exercised continually. It is our life line. It is to the soul what food is to the body, water is to the flesh, and air is to the lungs. We can’t do without it. – HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346