If you have filled out surveys in the U.S., you would notice that individuals often as asked to identify his religion. Many people would easily check the box for “Christian”. If we press further and ask whether they regularly attend Sunday service, read Bible often, or pray daily, I’m afraid not many people would check them all. If you identify yourself as a Christian, but always fall asleep during sermon, and neither read the Bible nor pray, I’m afraid the box you checked on the survey form only represents a wishful thinking on your part. After all, in America you can identify yourself with any formal religion without the fear of persecution. If Christianity was declared illegal, and Christians were imprisoned, even those who had regular Bible study and prayer life would be tempted to give up their identification with Christians, how much more so for those who have little practice of their faith?
When we come before God, He would neither take a survey, nor need anyone to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man (Jn. 2:25 ESV). Comparing to check boxes on a survey form, the faith that is in a man has a better correlation with his prayer life. A man’s prayer habit better reflects his spiritual health than his church attendance and Bible knowledge. This is because church attendance comes with added benefit of the sweet fellowship and community support, and Bible knowledge with intellectual satisfaction and even a sense of pride. On the contrary, our private prayer life can only be sustained with our faith in God and reliance on Him. Therefore, we must pray without ceasing, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us. (1 Thess. 5:18 ESV)
A universally known prayer type is the prayer for help in evil times. When the ship prophet Jonah boarded in Mediterranean Sea was caught up in a fierce storm, then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. (Jon. 1:5 ESV) When your ship is tossed back and forth on a stormy sea, even the most irreligious person would pray with the most pious heart to any god he can remember or imagine. Whether it is for yourself or for someone else, if the only prayer you know is the prayer for help, then you cannot pray without ceasing, because we do not sail into stormy sea very frequently. If possible, we would even wish that would never happen to our voyage of life. In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus taught us to pray seven prayers. Only the last two have to do with helps in evil times. And lead us not into temptation, which is preparation for the evil days ahead, but deliver us from evil, (Matt. 6:13 ESV) which is for help in evil days. The other five prayers before these two are not for decoration purpose only, they are indeed prayers of higher priority with greater urgency.
About ten years ago, when The Hunger Games trilogy first came out, it was a big hit. The story is about a compulsory televised survival battle for the fittest, set in a dystopia. The plot is so captivating because it skillfully woven together daily urgency (to escape from hunt and to hunt for kills) and ultimate single life goal (to become the last man standing). Don’t you know that our Christian identity means we are enlightened by Christ, so we can realize this present world is a dystopia under the dark power of Satan? Our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8 ESV). We are indeed all participants of a compulsive survival battle, but the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn. 3:8 ESV). By our faith in Jesus Christ, we can take up the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:13 ESV). If we want to win in this spiritual battle, we must become a prayer warrior, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints (Eph. 6:18 ESV). Only through unceasing prayer, we can be in full alert and not get hit by the darts of the enemy. Only the one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death (Rev. 2:11 ESV).
Prayer: Our heavenly Father! Fill us with the Holy Spirit and enable us to become prayer warrior that we may be victorious day after day, all the way to the final victory!
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