THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER PART 1 OF 5

Text- Ephesians 6:18

Introduction

Tonight I would like to begin a new series of Bible lessons on the foundations of prayer.

One week from tomorrow on May 2nd is going to be the 45th National Day of Prayer.

Our church will be participating by having a nine hour prayer vigil.

So far 24 people have volunteered to pray for 15 minutes on this day and we still need another 12 people to make it a full unbroken nine hour prayer vigil.

When I was considering presenting this idea to our church I thought it would be easy to get 36 people out of 100 church members to pray for 15 minutes, but I have come to realize that the one thing that every child of God is able to do is also one of the hardest things to get them to do.

In every service it has been announced, in every bulletin is has been printed, in every way it has been encouraged, and still it is like pulling teeth to get 36 people to pray for 15 minutes.

This is one of the reasons why I have chosen the topic of prayer for this new series of lessons.

Tonight I would like us to consider eleven reasons why it is important for each one of us to pray.

Our text tonight is found in Ephesians 6:18 where Paul says, "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,"

One of the things that stands out in this verse is the number of times Paul uses the word "all."

He uses the phrases, "with all prayer," "at all times," "with all perseverance," and "for all the saints."