Prayer. That's the blog.

The Cinderella story of the church of today is the prayer meeting. This hand maid of the Lord is unloved and unwooed because she is not dripping with the pearls of intellectualism, nor glamourous with the silks of philosophy; neither is she enchanting with the tiara of philosophy. she wears the homespuns of sincerity and humility and so is not afraid to kneel.- From "Why Revival Tarries" by Leonard Ravenhill

The life blood of any Christian is found in their prayer life. We all readily admit that statement in some various form or another to be categorically true. Yet so many live without what could be considered a disciplined prayer life. We know we should pray. We usually admit we need to pray more, yet instilling an everyday prayer routine is like sweeping under the refrigerator it's on the todo list, for tomorrow. The problem with that mindset is as my middle son Ben puts it "Its never tomorrow, its always today!"

Church, we have a problem.

Yes a huge problem. Because of a lack of prayer, not in schools, forget about if they have a benediction at the race or a ballgame or the city council meeting our problem is prayer less people. He did say in both testaments that his house shall be called an house of prayer and as Holy Ghost filled people we be the current house of God. When you prayed through the glory of God rested on you and now his essence dwells within you. Because you and I have become the walking, breathing temple of the Holy Ghost of God we must be a praying people.

Its a topic that comes across coffee tables, kitchen tables, and restaurant tables far to often. Where has the power gone? We recognize something has become different about our services about our churches and our lives, we lack power. We ask these questions because we feel within ourselves that something is missing from what the Apostles had. Something is missing from what the early Pentecostal movement in the U.S. had. That power to tread on scorpions and serpents. Let me assure you that our God has not changed one iota. Behold, the LORDS hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, nor his ears to dull to hear. Our God still heals, still, saves and still delivers. If something is lacking it is on our end.

Electricians call it continuity. This means that the power on one end of the wire is being delivered through the other end of the wire. The power still exist on Gods end. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! The problem lies in a loose connection on our end and our connection to the power and authority of God is found in our prayer rooms.

Lets take a test.

There is an answer to our problem. The answer is easy the fix will require us to become disciplined. I'm going to share a principle with you right now that I learned from Bro. Terry Shock. "When do you pray and where do you pray?" Here is how this exercise works. Ask yourself right now. When do I pray and Where do I pray? Because if you cannot honestly answer those two questions to yourself you need to pray more and you need to discipline your prayer life.

Before your prayer life can become truly powerful it must become truly dependable. Something I've learned is that if I don't make time to pray I will not find time to pray. I wish I could make this sound deeper and more profound to you but Jesus said he would use the simple things to profound the wise. It really is a simple answer we've just got to pray more.

The answer is simple here's the disciplined fix. Right now settle it in your heart that prayer is a priority then act on it. Today make the determination that you will pray. Then set a time and a place. It can be by your bedside, in your recliner at the table with a good cup of coffee the place and time are not important the connection to God is!

Today we wont spend a lot of time on the nuts and bolts of prayer but I will offer a few tips that help me to maintain focus.

1. Make a list and check it twice. no, not a wish list a prayer list of people in your life that you need to pray over daily. Its going to be longer than you think.

2. Find you some good scriptures to pray. The Psalms are full of songs worship and prayers of repentance that are amazing when prayed through.

3. Put the phone down. I'm convinced that every iPhone I've ever had has come factory equipped with its own devil that senses the moment it try and focus on God and sends an alert or even a phantom buzz just to make me pick it up. If your like me and want to play some worship music while you pray put the phone out of reach.

4. Find a prayer partner. We need accountability in our lives. You may not know this but you have someone in your life that would love to walk this journey of growing in prayer with you. Find someone who will pray with you and for you. Pray together and encourage one another to keep with their daily prayer schedule. Start a prayer group at your church. I've heard of small groups that walk and pray and even cook and pray. Get creative and get praying!