Prayer can change your life for the better

Prayer has been called a lifeline for people who are serious about walking with God. The beauty is that God also hears the prayers of those who do not walk with Him.

The word prayer means to ask, request and even beg. Prayer is simply talking with God. It should be an intimate affair, whether with ease or whether in pain.

A prayer can be one word or many words. I believe it is all about how the Spirit of the Lord leads you. The moment we begin to follow certain mechanical rituals, we lose the idea behind prayer.

• Prayer keeps you in touch with God and wraps you in a tight embrace with Him.

The more you stay closer to God, the more His heartbeat will be your heartbeat. You will know His will and act in accordance with His word. The chances of sinning therefore reduce due to that closeness.

• Your perspective of life will change. Hardly will you be vain because you will no longer look at the world from the prism of a fallen world.

• Your needs will be met. I am not saying everything you ask for will be provided.

There are certain prayers that God answers immediately, others are delayed while others are never answered.

• Prayer will move you away from temptation. Being tempted in itself is not a sin but falling into one is. Once you yield to it, you commit a sin but engaging in daily, serious prayer will be one of your best shields against temptation.

• Prayer charges your spiritual battery. No phone can function for days without the battery being recharged. In most cases, we charge our phones daily. How much more prayer! The moment we start letting up on prayer is the moment we remove ourselves from God’s protection.

• Prayer makes us better individuals in terms of character and integrity.

For instance, it checks our selfishness.

Man is naturally selfish but in the prayer closet, we not only shower God with blessings, but also pray for other people, other nations. This means you mean well for these people.

• Prayer offers us hope. And hope does not disappoint.

I hold the view that the worst thing that can ever happen to a person is to lose hope.

Losing hope means one has reached the end of the road, yet with God, all things are possible to those who believe.

A person who has lost hope has stopped believing and may be on the way to the grave.

The benefits of prayer cannot be exhausted in a few words.

If you are not praying, start now. If you are praying but losing hope, hang in there.

If you pray with intensity and with joy, carry on. Ultimately, God is supreme and we must direct our adoration, supplication and requests to Him.