In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches His disciples to pray. During His life and ministry on earth, He often went apart from His disciples to pray. As His trial and death drew near, Jesus could be found in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying (Luke 22:39-45). The fact that the Creator of the universe prayed often speaks volumes of the necessity of prayer. How much more do we mere creatures of His need it?


But it can be very hard to do as Paul says: be joyful at all times and pray continually. Paul is telling us that our lives are to be always breathing in and out our conversations to the Lord. Prayer should be the beginning, middle and end of all that we do, not simply an afterthought or a hurried sentence before we eat.


Many a desperate prayer is uttered by prisoners whose lives seem hopeless. My prayers were among them! While I served out my prison sentence, talking with God became a way of life. Hard circumstances that any of us face may bring us to our knees where our Savior has been waiting all along to hear us.