Heat Check - The School Of Prayer 101 - Perseverance In Prayer

Celebration Church Int'l

"If you only pray when you feel like praying, you won't have a prayer life" - Pst. Emmanuel Iren
The things of the spirit can be taught because they are systematic. For instance, there is what to do to be saved (John 3:16). The fact that it is spiritual doesn't make it mysterious. Like in every other aspect of Christian devotion, there is a school of Prayer. We can learn to pray. This is a Bible emphasis and not just a denominational emphasis. You can rise in fervor; you can be schooled in the art of prayer.
In Luke 11:1, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. They were fascinated by Jesus' prayer life. You may have heard it said that one learns how to pray by praying. That is a context-specific quote that encourages us to exercise ourselves consistently in prayer in order to build a prayer life. But before you build a prayer life, you must learn to pray. If you only pray when you feel like praying, you won't have a prayer life. Prayer is labor. Many times, you will not feel like it but you must pray notwithstanding.
The school of prayer is a systematic curriculum. The concept is not new. John taught his disciples how to pray. You can learn to pray. It doesn't matter where you are in your prayer life.
Many of Jesus' disciples were John's disciples and John had taught them to pray. But they saw a difference in how Jesus prayed. It is important to have that disposition of rising and improving in your prayer life.
From Luke 11:5, Jesus explained prayer with an example of the friend who had roused his friend to make a request at night. Jesus stated that though his friend may not answer him because of their friendship, he would answer him because of his persistence.
It is noteworthy that the first thing Jesus taught about prayer was perseverance. We must learn to persevere. Jesus created imagery of urgency that necessitated a response.
Three aspects of Perseverance we must grow in:
* TENACITY
* VOLUME
* CONSISTENCY
If you don't pray, you will live a life of contradiction.