Are you devoted to prayer?

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. -Acts 2:42

Now for the final point of our Acts verse which reveals what the priorities of that first generation church was, Prayer. It’s not something I’ve spoken of much; thus far. In fact, I didn’t even include it in the four purposes of church. 

Worship, Education, Outreach, Fellowship

Well why is that you may ask. I did not include it as a separate point, for it is a concept that can be applied to all four other points. This detail seems to indicate that prayer needs to take part in every aspect of our spiritual live. It’s no wonder so much has been written on the subject. Of course, you could read every word of it, and it wouldn’t mean a thing if you didn’t actually apply the practice as intended. The question is do you? The answer might be revealed in how you treat prayer. Is Prayer something you avoid or embrace? Do you pray routinely, or only when you need something? Do you pray privately, or only with others as prompted by them? If you do pray privately, is it for just yourself, or others as well? If you do pray for others, is it for their benefit, or are you just wanting people to do as you wish? Does corporate prayer make you apprehensive for fear of being evaluated harshly just because you’re not as eloquent as the next person? Do you like to go on and on to show off that you can be  rather flowery with your prayer? The answers to these questions can speak volumes as to where your heart is at, and ultimately how spiritually healthy you are. 

Baptized by fire