The vital importance of prayer

If you have been following my daily blogs, you probably know that the verses I choose to write on are those through which God has revealed some insight or truth as I prayerfully work my way though a given book. We noted that the doxology in 15:13 concludes the theology section of the letter and leads to information about his coming plans. As Paul lays out his plans for visiting the church in Rome en route to Spain, he asks them for their help in one major way. In verse 30 he urges them as friends to join him in his struggle “by praying to God on his behalf.” I get the feeling that when it comes to determining the one most important thing in the Christian life and ministry, it turns out to be the maintaining of a constant relationship with God through prayer.
         All too often prayer is thought of as something we do at various times in the day for different purposes. We pray for the day that is about to unfold, we pray before meals, and we pray before going to bed. Perhaps more, but at least at those specific times. But in his letter to the church in Thessalonica, Paul counsels us to “pray continually” (5:16). That means we are to stay in constant contact with him. In normal dialog, there are times when both people are quiet, but that doesn’t mean that they are unaware of each other. In my Letters of Paul to the Early Church I translate the above verse, “Talk to God all the time.” Frank Laubach, known as “The Apostle to the Illiterates,” makes the point that you can’t think without “talking” to yourself. He suggests that we make God the other person in that discussion, or at least join it. So there is one way to “talk to God all the time” (see his little book, Game with Minutes – it could change your life forever).
         We usually think of Paul as an exceptionally bright former Jewish Rabbi who was responsible for westward expansion of the Christian faith. And he was, but I believe we ought to think of him as a man of prayer as well. He mentions prayer so often in his letters (57 times by my count) that we can be sure it played the major role in his outreach to the Gentiles. But his prayers alone were not enough. He encourages the believers in Rome to join him in prayer. He understood that spiritual life needs the constant presence and power of the Spirit. If it didn’t, we shouldn’t call it “spiritual.” As Paul moved into the un-evangelized west, where the message of the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ had not as yet been heard, he prayed – and invited his friends in Rome to join him – for safety, for a favorable reception of help for the poor, and for joy and refreshment when he arrives there (vv. 31-32). Prayer was both normal and necessary for the apostle, as it is for us as well.