Part 1
Part 2
TEXT: Romans 12:12:
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
We are in a series of messages titled “Praying Through the Bible: A Series on Every Passage and Verse Regarding Prayer in the Bible.” The purpose of this series is to encourage and motivate you to pray to the God of the Bible. We highlighted each of these over 500 verses and passages in the Prayer Motivator Devotional Bible. So far, we have completed 239 messages in this series.
This is message #240 titled, Pray, Now and Always.
The command to pray found in Romans 12:12 comes in the middle of a long list of the duties which a Christian is expected to carry out. Paul begins this passage by talking about the gifts that are present in the body of Christ. He says, “We have many members in one body, but all members have not the same office.” Some of those offices include the offices of prophet, minister, teacher, and exhorter. However, only certain ones in the body of Christ are called to those offices. Paul goes on to list twenty-five duties that all Christians should fulfill. Among these duties is “continuing instant in prayer.” There is no special office for praying or for prayer warriors. All Christians are called to pray.
But Paul is not talking about the occasional praying that we do when we get in trouble, or the formal praying that we do at the dinner table, or even the church praying that we do once a week in Sunday service. Paul says we must be “continuing instant in prayer.” The words “continuing instant” are one word in the Greek, and that word is defined as follows:
– to be steadfastly attentive to, to give unremitting care to a thing
– to continue all the time in a place
– to persevere and to not faint
Essentially, the Bible is telling us to pray now and to pray always. We ought to steadfastly take heed to this command, being ready to jump into prayer-action at any moment. I know that some people feel like they have to build up to prayer, that they have to have a special time for it, or that they have to be in a certain place or a certain state of mind. But, we ought always to be ready to pray no matter where we are or what we are doing. No matter what time it is, it is a praying time.
This verse tells us that we ought to pray as often as possible, and the only way to do that is to have a spirit of prayer, a spirit which is tuned to the Father at all times. Have you ever seen a compass on a ship? When the ship is being tossed about by the wind and waves, the needle on the compass trembles and swings back and forth, but it always comes back around and points straight to the north. Every time the needle points north, it seems to say, “That’s where I want to go.” No matter what you do to the compass, the needle will always point north. Why? Because the magnetism in the needle is attracted to the distant North Pole.
We may have to deal with all manner of things in this life that distract us from prayer, but no matter what we do, we must always swing back around and turn our needles, our prayers to God. Our hearts must have a desire to be in communion with Him. Adam Clarke said, “We must make the most fervent and intense application to the throne of grace for the light and power of the Holy Spirit, without which we can neither abhor evil, do good, love the brethren, entertain a comfortable hope, nor bear up patiently under the tribulations and ills of life.” We must continue instant in prayer, now and always.
Edith H. Kinney wrote:
Should the new dawn breaking a burden bring,
That your soul deems hard to bear,
Seek a boon of grace for a little space;
There is always time for prayer.
With a lift of heart let the day begin,
And a moment respite spare,
Ere you press along with the toiling throng;
There is always time for prayer.
When your weary feet falter on the path,
Tho’ to pause you do not dare,
Would you find the stress of the noon grow less?
There is always time for prayer.
When the late night dies with the setting sun,
Would you taste a balm for care?
With a lift of heart let the day depart;
There is always time for prayer.
There is always time in the morning’s prime,
And the golden noontide fair;
There is always time ’neath the even chime,
There is always time for prayer.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Now, if you are with us today, and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, your first prayer needs to be what we call the Sinner’s Prayer. First, please understand that you are a sinner, just as I am, and that you have broken God’s laws. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you just trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and you prayed that prayer and meant it from your heart, I declare to you that based upon the Word of God, you are now saved from Hell and you are on your way to Heaven. Welcome to the family of God! Congratulations on trusting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. You have done the most important thing in life. For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.
Gospel Light House of Prayer International 