I am always delighted to pray for those in need of it, whether people I know or total strangers. I wince a bit, however, when people say, “Yeah, I asked you because I know you’re a real prayer warrior.”

The truth is, all of us who bear the name of Christ are to be prayer warriors. We are to be calling on His name continuously (1 Thessalonians 5:17), both individually in our inner rooms (Matthew 6:6), and corporately with the rest of the Body of Christ (Matthew 18:20). We are instructed to seek His kingdom and His righteousness first and foremost, and the way we do this is through prayer.

“Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you” Samuel told Israel in 1 Samuel 12:23. Do we ever stop to think that failing to pray can actually be a sin? Do we ever consider how impoverished our lives are and the others around us because we don’t pray the way we ought? “You do not have because you do not ask,” asserts James 4:3.

Now more than ever, with our security walls down, both physically and spiritually, and our families and ourselves vulnerable to every kind of attack, we need all believers to take up the weapons of warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 10:4) and be prayer warriors.  We can no longer expect clergy or church leadership to carry the burden, and can’t count solely on others to bear the responsibility. Nowhere in scripture is prayer designated as an office to be held by only a few. We are all priests (1 Peter 2:9), and as such, are charged with offering the sacrifices of praise (Hebrews 13:15), prayer (Proverbs 15:8) and thanksgiving (Psalm 50:14).

“If God will do whatever He wishes, regardless of whether we pray or not, then we do not need to pray at all, and the Lord’s instructions on praying for the Kingdom and His will are superfluous. . .Apart from Him, we can do nothing. Apart from us, He will do nothing” -Chip Brogden.

Let’s pray!