Under All Circumstances

A fisherman who was a backslidden Christian went out in a boat with some of his buddies. Suddenly a storm came, and it was getting worse and worse. It was so bad, in fact, they thought they were going to drown.

So, the men turned to their Christian friend and said, “You’ve got to talk to God right now! Pray and get us out of this mess!”

He said, “Guys, I haven’t prayed in years. I haven’t been to church in a long time. I don’t want to pray.”

They kept pressing him, and eventually he agreed to do it. Reluctantly he prayed, “Oh Lord, I haven’t asked anything of You for fifteen years. But if You will help us now and bring us safely to land, I promise that I won’t bother You for another fifteen.”

At least he was honest. But we should never be hesitant to pray. We should see it for the privilege that it really is.

Writing to the Christians in Ephesus, the apostle Paul said, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere” (Ephesians 6:18 NLT).

Notice Paul’s use of the words “all,” “every,” and “everywhere.” He told us important things about prayer, but he didn’t address the things people tend to focus on, like the best posture for prayer or whether to pray with our eyes open or closed.

The point is that we should pray when we are young, when we are old, when we are in trouble, and when things are going well. We should pray in any posture, in any place, at any time, and under all circumstances.

Someone has described prayer as the breath of the newborn soul. Prayer is good and needed in the life of a Christian.

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