Prayer

One of the main burdens in the training for the full time serving ones this time at Bengaluru is prayer. Prayer is the key driving force for our Christian life and a Christian work. Prayer must be the first thing a Christian must engage in, before any other services. Prayer must be the source and supply for anything and everything in the Christian life for the church life.

Evangelist Billy Graham had penned three keys for evangelism: prayer, prayer, and prayer. Hudson Taylor had his share in his China Inland Mission with his famous statement, basically of serving the Lord in China: Only through prayer, what was impossible and difficult at best would eventually be done. All servants of God have one thing in common in their ministries whatsoever, prayer. 

In serving the Lord, the first and foremost matter to be taken care of is personal prayer. This is not a once for all but a daily, moment by moment matter. Without an intimate personal fellowship with the Lord, how would one know how to serve the Lord? Without being one with the Lord in prayer there can never be "serving the Lord". 

Besides, the service to the Lord is a Body matter, there is an inevitable need for the leading and responsible brothers to come together in one accord for prayer. Only by such corporate prayer can the brothers know how to shepherd the church. The strength and weakness of a local church are determined by the degree of the prayer of the brothers who oversees and shepherds the saints in the church. 

And much more, all the saints must too stand together in one accord as the church in the church's prayer meeting. The prayer meeting of the church is one of the most important meetings of the church. The church's prayer moves and directs the hand of God in His move. 

Be it personal, family, service, or church, every matter must be prayed for and prayed over thoroughly first. The speaking of the Lord was and still is very strong concerning prayer. I was deeply convicted of the loopholes I allowed in my prayer life. For whatever reason, I should never compromise on prayer. I was freshly awakened to re-establish a strong and stable prayer life. In addition to the normal prayer life I have, I have been graced to re-establish my prayer life. Besides, I am also being burdened to help the saints and the church in my locality to strengthen our prayer life. Therefore, I posted the following to the church in Gurugram's WhatsApp group. 

Prayer Burdens1 Thessalonians 5:17Unceasingly pray.
1 Timothy 2:8I desire therefore that men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and reasoning;
Daily Personal Prayer at least 30 minutes daily, the more the better.
Daily Family Prayer at least 30 minutes every day. 
Weekly Church Prayer Meeting: Every Saturdays at 3:30 - 4:30 PM
Dear saints, consider this burden of prayer seriously before the Lord. We all should pray that we have a regular and stable prayer life: personal prayer life, family prayer, and church prayer meeting.
Romans 12:12Rejoice in hope; endure in tribulation; persevere in prayer.
Ephesians 6:18By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.
Philippians 4:6In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
Colossians 4:2Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving.
Much grace to us all.

In order to help the saints practically to have a regular, strong and stable prayer life, I also suggested ways to achieve this, by setting time to pray. 

Set Time to PrayTo pray, we need to set time to pray. Fix a definite time every day for prayer.
For personal prayer, we may consider spending 15 minutes in the morning, 15 minutes in the noon time, perhaps after lunch, 15 minutes in the afternoon, 15 minutes in the evening, and 15 minutes in the night before going to bed. In this way, at least 1 hour 15 minutes can be sanctified for personal prayer.
Similarly, we can set time for family prayer; morning, after morning revival or evening, after dinner or before bedtime. If your family are not yet saved, it is good to make an appointment with a brother or sister for phone call prayer.
Do your best to attend the church's prayer meeting on Saturdays.
By these ways, we can sanctify and consecrate our time for prayer. Otherwise, the devil will make you feel busy and eat away all your time.
Lord, recover our prayer life!