Jesus said we should “Always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1). Paul tells us we are to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). Yet when we research several polls, we find that Christians spend very few minutes in prayer each day.
Why is prayer so difficult? Prayerlessness is a serious problem in the church. In Ezekiel 22, the Lord told the prophet He was looking for someone who would stand in the gap and intercede. What was he to intercede for? Was it a revival? Was it for marriages? Was it for a new King? No, the Lord said He was looking for someone to intercede so He would not have to destroy the land, but He found none. Those words ring very loudly in the ears of each of us today. He found none!
As we watched the memorial for Charlie Kirk on September 21, we could not help but believe and hope that Kirk’s death was a seed planted that was already yielding a great harvest of souls. Many responded as Kirk’s pastor asked for anyone who was not a believer to stand to acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Savior. The seed that was planted has already begun to sprout a harvest as new growth appeared. And now prayer is more important than ever. We must pray for those who were moved in their hearts to acknowledge Jesus and will begin to walk the path of discipleship. We must pray that churches will respond to these hungry hearts and not return to church as usual.
We saw a similar incident in 2001 soon after the attack on the towers in NY City. Broken hearts were moved, and churches were filled. Yet within a short time, all returned back to the norm. But the glaring difference in Kirk’s memorial is that there was no room left in this service for anyone other than Jesus Christ. There were no other faiths given equal status. There was no religious synergy of many faiths that attempted to soothe the hearts of the people. Politicians, newscasters, and even our President had room for only one name, Jesus Christ. His name was exalted and spoken into the heavens for the powers, principalities, and evil forces of darkness to hear. I can only imagine how this evil must have shrieked in pain at the great mistake that was made in taking Kirk’s young life. They miscalculated, just as they did with Jesus on the cross, and had they known the result they would never have assassinated this young man. One dies and many more are birthed, a fatal mistake for the opposing side.
Now we must pray. We must pray for those new ones in Christ who will certainly meet the opposing side with philosophical persuasions and arguments. We must pray because the forces of darkness will certainly launch unceasing strategies and opposition. We must pray for unity in the body of Christ. We must pray for true love one for another. We must pray for the prodigals that are out there and looking back one more time, thinking again about the safety of their Father’s house. We must pray!
We must pray, as Paul states, at all times and on every occasion, in the Spirit, being alert and persistent. (Eph. 6:18) We are in war as two kingdoms continue to clash and the primary weapon for warfare continues to be prayer. We must pray at all times, in every season, in the Spirit. As we pray in the Spirit, we are praying the will of God because we do not know how to pray as we should, but Holy Spirit does! (Romans 8:26-27) WE MUST PRAY!