Sunday, 17 August 2025
PERSIST IN PRAYER
Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Prayer is part of our priestly service or ministry as Christians. Therefore, you must be a man or woman of prayer. You must be persistent in prayer. This is sacrosanct. Certain things will not change until you pray, and that’s because of the power and effects of prayer.
Revelation 5:8 reveals something powerful about our prayers. It says, “…the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.” In the Old Testament, the Lord gave instructions to the priest to burn incense morning and evening in the Tabernacle. But the Bible says all that was a shadow of things to come (Hebrews 10:1).
Many years later, the apostle John, by the Spirit, sees into the heavens and is shown this amazing truth: “… golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.” When you pray in the earth, it goes before the Lord as incense. King David had a revelation of this; the Lord had guided him to understand that our prayers are actually set before God as incense. So he said in Psalms 141:2, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense….”
Your intercessory prayers go up to God, topple the plans of the enemy and change things in the heavenly realm, resulting in positive changes in the earth. That’s why you should always pray. Our opening verse says, “Pray without ceasing.” Take prayer seriously and you’ll be amazed at the changes in your life and the greater influence and impact of the Holy Spirit in and around you.
Whenever possible, separate yourself from everything else and pray. Speak in tongues at every opportunity you get. And if for some reason you miss your scheduled time of prayer, make sure you pray soon afterwards. James 5:16 AMPC says, “…The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].”
So, pray and persist in prayer. Don’t say, “I prayed yesterday; that should take me through the whole week”; no! The injunction is for us to pray without ceasing. The stakes are much higher than ever. Therefore, we must persist in prayer until the last soul that must be won is reached and brought into the Kingdom before the rapture of the Church.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank you for the privilege and power of prayer through which my spirit is aligned with your perfect will to walk in ever-increasing glory. My life is orchestrated by your Spirit, and I’m continually strengthened, guided and positioned for success. No situation is beyond me because I operate from a place of victory and triumph always, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
Luke 18:1; Colossians 4:2; Acts 1:13-14
1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: 1 Corinthians 2 & Psalms 107-108
2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Luke 17:1-10 & 1 Samuel 2