The Bible is full of instruction and examples that encourage us to pray. For example, in the book of Colossians alone, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul writes:
“We always pray for you…” Colossians 1:3
“We have not stopped praying for you…” Colossians 1:9
“We also pray…” Colossians 1:11
“Devote yourselves to prayer…” Colossians 4:2
“Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. I can assure you that he prays hard for you...” Colossians 4:12-13
Recently, I was having a conversation with a Christian co-worker of mine about the need to pray more. We confessed that our time often gets swallowed up browsing things online or looking on social media. We felt God nudging us to spend more time with Him in prayer instead. There are so many things that we can pray for personally and for those that we work with. We end up mindlessly devoting ourselves to things that are not worth our devotion instead of talking with God who is worth our complete devotion.
There have been times when I have doubted the importance of prayer or simply felt that God would do things regardless and my prayers didn’t matter much. I have come to believe that this is a lie that the enemy of God whispers in our ear to keep us from doing something he knows is very powerful.
Simply considering the few verses mentioned above from Colossians should help us realize that prayer is a very important part of the Christian life and accomplishes much. God has designed it this way. We have a part to play, and our prayers make a big difference.