Choose To Pray · wednesday, february 22nd · by Pastor Chris

I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting (1 Timothy 2:8).

Someone once said, "I always feel reluctant to pray. How do I get free from this?" It’s just like someone who feels reluctant to eat. If you don’t eat, then you’ll lose weight and become malnourished. But there’ll only be a change when you choose to act wisely by eating right. Same with prayer; when you feel reluctant to pray that’s when you should pray. Remember, God has given you the power of choice, so you have the power to choose and exercise wisdom by acting on your knowledge of the importance of prayer.
This kind of wisdom is a force; it’s more than ability. You can have the ability to do something and not do it. But true wisdom is that you know what you should do, and you do it! So let that wisdom function in you at all times and cause you to do what’s right, like choosing to pray. Prayer is your life’s work, and the best way to learn to pray is to pray. Culture yourself to do this, whether or not you feel like. Jesus said in Luke 18:1, "...men ought always to pray, and not to faint;" He didn’t say, "men ought always to pray when they feel like!"
You have the power to decide what you want to do, so choose to pray. Take for example, Paul’s admonition to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2: "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." Here, the Spirit of God teaches us something important, letting us know that whether or not we feel like it, in every season, we ought to preach the Gospel. The same thing with prayer; you pray in season and out of season!
Prayer doesn’t require a convenient place per se; you can pray anywhere, in any position. You don’t necessarily have to find a place where you can kneel, or a place that’s high enough for you to lift your hands or a place where you can shout. You can pray as quietly as possible, or as loudly as you want; you can pray sitting, lying, kneeling—whatever position. What’s important is that you pray. So you have no excuse not to pray. Make a decision to pray always—anywhere—and God will hear and answer you.
Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for the benefit, privilege and opportunity of prayer! I’m excited that you hear and answer me always when I pray. I declare that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, is with me today, and always, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
f u r t h e r s t u d y: Ephesians 6:18; Acts 3:1