Why Prayer Is Vital to Life on Earth
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.
Luke 18:1 (NKJV)
This is the verse that has kept my prayer life fairly strong over the years. In my opinion it is the most convicting scripture on man's need to pray, whatever the conditions of his life, because prayer is the life force of man, his connection to the divine.
Like every creature, man requires the environment of his origin to sustain his life. This is one of the reasons there are so many religions in the world: they are man's attempts to connect with the divine, the source of his spiritual nature.
Prayer is what has kept the doors open between the earthly and the spiritual. It is the platform on which man and the divine can commune and transact; the transactions between heaven and earth take effect in places of prayer.
The words of Jesus are straightforward: men must pray and not give up. This tells us that prayer should be the life of a man, independent of the conditions of his outward life. Prayer regulates the inner life of man, and helps him secure answers in life and move the hand of God.
To live a life of prayer is to recognise the place of God in life. Do not compromise when it comes to prayer, because you never know when you might need a miracle. Daniel was a man who made prayer a priority in his life, so much so that when a law was sinisterly decreed that no one should petition or pray to any god except the king, it was aimed at him. They knew they could not fault him in anything, so they looked for the one thing they knew would jeopardise him: his incessant prayer life. There are people in your life who hate your prayer life. I remember a day when I was passing some young men on my street, and they stopped me and remarked, "Hey man, give God a break. You pray too much."
Sure enough, when Daniel heard of the new law, he immediately broke it, and publicly at that. He went into his house, opened his windows and prayed. After he was thrown into the lions' den, everyone probably thought they had seen the last of Daniel. But men of prayer have supernatural backup, and heaven will show up for a man who frequents the chambers of prayer. Daniel came out unscathed. Give glory to God.
Do not give up, especially in prayer. A great deal can go wrong in your life, and you can make many mistakes, but let none of them be in praying. Pray, and do not give up. Your miracle is at the door.