For many Christians it seems that prayer is one of the most difficult disciplines to maintain.<\/p>\n
Often times, when things in our life are going well we tend to pray less, if at all. This is sin, and we know it. We know that we are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5v17) in all circumstances – whether good or bad.<\/p>\n
Then, after seasons of inconsistent, or non-existent praying, we enter into seasons where we are very aware of our need to pray. This could be when really tough things happen, or when really important things are on our plates that we want God to work out.<\/p>\n
Regardless of what the situations may \u00a0be, we begin to condemn ourselves. We think that since we have not been in prayer as we should, we cannot come to God with our big needs or wants. Feelings of guilt hover over us like a gray cloud of shame. “How can I pray to God now that I really need something, when I haven’t talked to him in weeks?”<\/p>\n
But Christian, do not listen to the lies or fall prey to condemnation. The thought that we cannot go to God in prayer because we know we are only going to God because we need something is the accusations of the devil. Those thoughts are what the devil wants us to think. But let us not listen to his voice, let us, as Martin Luther says, spite the devil. And let us spite him by praying to the God that owns him, through the Jesus that has defeated him.<\/p>\n
It does not matter how inconsistent your prayer life has been – go to God in prayer. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8v1) who have had inconsistent prayer lives. The cloud of guilt that hovers over us is nothing more than a fantasy; for all guilt and shame has been vanquished at the cross. No matter how inconsistent your prayer life has been, go to God in prayer; and do not condemn yourself where God has not.<\/p>\n
By the power of the Spirit (Romans 8v26) let us return to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4v16) where we find Jesus interceding to the Father for us (Romans 8v34). While our prayer lives have been inconsistent, the prayer life of Jesus for his bride is perfectly consistent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For many Christians it seems that prayer is one of the most difficult disciplines to maintain. Often times, when things in our life are going well we tend to pray less, if at all. This is sin, and we know it. We know that we are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5v17) in all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[374,557,562,648,679,753,969],"class_list":{"0":"post-651","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"tag-devil","8":"tag-god","9":"tag-gospel","10":"tag-inconsistent","11":"tag-jesus","12":"tag-lives","13":"tag-prayer","14":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1113,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/prayer-as-communion-with-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":651,"position":0},"title":"Prayer as Communion with God","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"August 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cAnd when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3659,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/praying-great-prayers-with-great-confidence-because-we-have-great-assurance-from-our-great-god-who-has-given-us-a-great-gift-1-john-319-24\/","url_meta":{"origin":651,"position":1},"title":"Praying Great Prayers, with Great Confidence, Because we have Great Assurance, from our Great God, Who has Given us a Great Gift: 1 John 3:19-24","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"November 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Prayer, we would all admit, is one of the most difficult disciplines to maintain in the Christian life. It is one of the most neglected means of grace, and methods of communion with God. And it is the most powerful aspect of the Christian life. Yet, for many, if not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/prayingman300px.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/prayingman300px.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/prayingman300px.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2090,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/global-prayer-in-the-local-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":651,"position":2},"title":"Global Prayer in the Local Church","author":"Joshua Mills","date":"June 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We now live in a culture that is hostile to anyone claiming to know absolute truth. We often hear, \u201cif its true to you, then its true to you\u2026but its not true for me\u201d We are faced with this insanity on a daily. For Christians, it is scandalous to share\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Culture","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/reecesrainbow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/prayer-for-the-media.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1216,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-means-of-sovereignty\/","url_meta":{"origin":651,"position":3},"title":"The Means of Sovereignty","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"November 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cWhen he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, \u2018The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gospel"","block_context":{"text":"Gospel","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/gospel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3699,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/assurance-of-eternal-life-assurance-in-prayer-1-john-513-15\/","url_meta":{"origin":651,"position":4},"title":"Assurance of Eternal Life, Assurance in Prayer: 1 John 5:13-15","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"January 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 13\u00a0I write\u00a0these things to you who\u00a0believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.\u00a014\u00a0And this is\u00a0the confidence that we have toward him, that\u00a0if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.\u00a015\u00a0And if we know that he hears us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/prayingman300px.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/prayingman300px.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/prayingman300px.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4516,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/covenantal-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":651,"position":5},"title":"Covenantal Prayer","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"July 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Introduction This afternoon, we will be looking at a few sections of verses at a time, so we will read them as we come to them. This High Priestly Prayer of our Lord is not a rambling disconnected assortment of thoughts that randomly come to Jesus\u2019 mind as He prays.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/07\/David.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/07\/David.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/07\/David.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/07\/David.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/07\/David.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/685"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}