NO SUBSTITUTE
- Olufunmilayo Adekusibe
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Today’s Reading:
Luke 22:39-46
“Then He said to them, why do you sleep? Rise and pray. Lest you enter into temptation.”
(Luke 22:46)
There are a lot of things in life that have substitutes. If the usable is not available, then the available becomes usable. But there is nothing that can replace prayer. Studying the bible is fantastic, evangelism is the heartbeat of God and it is great, fasting is a means of denying ourselves to concentrate, which is also beneficial, doing good works are rewarding, but none of them should and must replace prayer. As powerful as a prophet and prophetic office is highly sought after, a prayer warrior is their master. In fact, people can pray or intercede on your behalf, but nothing can replace personal prayer. Prayer is work, and most people are lazy in the place of prayer. We have many organisers but few agonisers. There are a lot of teachings on how to pray, but few people are really praying.
Prayer is more powerful than ballistic missiles. It travels faster than the speed of light. Prayer affects every aspect of a man’s life, be it physical, spiritual, mental, social and what a view. It must not be done on a part-time basis, rather on a full-time basis, and that is why the scriptures say that men ought always to pray and not to faint, Luke 18:1, I Thessalonians 5:17. Prayer empowers us for battles of life. It takes a man from the realm of physical to the realm of spiritual. When a man stops praying, he starts straying. When you are not praying, then you are playing, and there is no room for idleness in the school of the Spirit. Prayer protects and preserves us from spiritual decay. Policies have been changed by the power of prayer. Battles have been stopped and won by the power of prayer. Daniel shut the mouth of the lion because he was a prayerful man. The three Hebrew boys turned a fiery furnace into an air conditioner through faith and the power of prayer. You can eat too much, but you can never pray too much. You can play too much, but you can never pray too much. If Jesus could pray, what is stopping you and me from praying? If you are too busy to pray, then you have a misplacement of priority. You can never be busier than Jesus, yet he prayed. Even when you don’t feel like praying, still pray. Prayer should not be done only when you feel like it; the nature we inherited always wants comfort, but we must deny it some comfort to get into the spirit realm. Show me a man or woman who prays, and I will show you a man or woman who is fortified against attack from the pit of hell. The devil fears a man who prays. The power of prayer is unimaginable.
A story was told of a young Christian lady who was in her room with a guy discussing issues of life. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed, and the guy wanted to rape her. All her pleas fell on deaf ears. She screamed and shouted for help, but no one came to her rescue. The brother unzipped and wanted to take canal of her, suddenly there was a knock on the door, which was only heard by the brother. The person kept knocking, so the brother was forced to zip up. He begged the lady not to tell anyone. He went to the door to open, and lo and behold, he didn’t see anyone at the door. That gave the lady the opportunity to escape. After some minutes, the mother of the lady called her to ask whether she was fine because she felt an urge to pray for her. Imagine the power of prayer. It was the prayer of the mother that delivered the daughter. Jesus told the disciples in the passage above that they should pray so that they would not fall into temptation. Prayer is the antidote to falling into temptation. How is your prayer life? Pray, pray and pray.
JAMES ALADE
To surrender your life to Christ, say this prayer aloud. “Father, I acknowledge my sin against You. I repent and ask for forgiveness, in the name of Jesus. I surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, take control of my heart and lead me in Your path of righteousness. Thank you, Lord.”
If you said the prayer, Congratulations! You are welcome to the body of Christ. Prayerfully seek out a living church and meet the resident reverend, pastor, or priest.
Prayer:
Oh Lord, release upon me the spirit of prayer
Holy Spirit, keep me aglow and afresh spiritually
I shall not faint spiritually in Jesus' name
May the fire upon my prayer altar not go out in Jesus' name
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