The Cost of Prayer
What does it cost you to be a person of prayer?
Verse of the Day
“Never stop praying.”
Today’s Devotional
Everything in our life comes with a cost. If we choose to focus primarily on our career, it will cost us time with family or friends. If we focus on our physical fitness, it will cost us some of our free time to exercise and it will cost us discipline with food. If we focus on our faith in God, it will cost us our self-will. So what does being a person of prayer cost us?
Prayer is not necessarily about what it costs us, though it will require time, effort, attention, and willingness to grow and change. Oswald Chambers said something in his book If You Will Ask that I read a month ago but has stuck with me. He said, “A thing is worth just what it costs. Prayer is not about what it costs us, but what it cost God to enable us to pray.”
The “entry fee” for the ability to pray was paid by God Himself. The Father sent His Son to pay the price for us to be able to pray. Jesus grants us access to the Father. And the price was high. It’s free for us through grace, but the price was high nonetheless.
When I buy something expensive for one of my girls, I would love it if they recognize the sacrifice. That money could have been used for something their dad and I wanted, but we chose to spend the money on them. When they had an understanding of money, their ability to be grateful and their perception of “cost” was increased.
My prayer, one our last day of studying prayer, is that we would be willing to recognize the “price” God paid for our ability to pray to Him. That we would not take prayer for granted. That we would be so grateful for this gift that we readily take advantage of the access we have to the Father.
Today’s verse tells us to never stop praying. Is that even possible? If the purpose of prayer is fellowship with the Father, then let’s look at it from a human perspective. I have a wonderful relationship with my husband. But I don’t talk to him all day everyday. I talk to him in the morning, and in the evening, and then throughout the day as there is time or need. Though we are not always talking only to each other, we are always in communication with one another. We always know what is going on with each other. If one of us is traveling, we make the effort to keep in touch, even though it is logistically different than when we are both home. I think that’s what this verse is trying to teach us to do with prayer. We pray daily, several times each day, to the point that even though we are not literally always praying, we are constantly in communication with the Father. We learn to know what He is doing, and we are always telling Him what we are going through. Because it’s a relationship. And this is the most important and most precious relationship any of us will ever have.
The ability for us to pray cost God a high price. Let’s not take this gift for granted. Let’s be people who recognize that God desires a relationship with us, and that this relationship grows and evolves through prayer.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How have you taken prayer for granted?
Has your perception of prayer changed at all over the last month? If it has, take the time to thank your Father for teaching you.
What would it look like for you to “never stop praying”?
In your journal, write down this question and write down God’s response: “Father, what do you want to tell me today?”