February 7, 2021 · Romans 12:11–12

Faithful in Prayer

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

“What am I using to help me enjoy the things that God has helped me enjoy, my God, and what are things that have now become my idol? Because honestly, we're supposed to love God first, and things in the world can help me love God. I can love God better when I love my family. But it is possible for me to elevate even my family to a place where I'm idolatrous, and I'm not actually fulfilling what God's calling me to, because I've taken and put something else in front of him. I love God because he is so gracious and good, and part of that is he gave me family. This will help me love God more. It's possible to have things help you love God, but it's also possible for good things to be trying to take the place of God. If it's spiritual oppression, attack — how do I overcome this? Well, pray more. "Lord Jesus, help me pray more. Prepare me for prayer. Find different ways of praying." We need to be battle-ready. Be geared up, realizing that this is a higher-level thing that's happening across our globe, across our nation. Is there deception? Yes. This has always been happening, always will. There's always a scheme of trying to manipulate things. And we know in the end God will be victorious, but part of what he tells us is that the prayers of the faithful are part of him accomplishing his plans. Now, I don't know exactly why. People say, "Why do we pray?" Well, God commanded you to.”