It is always great to begin your day with prayer and Scripture. It enriches your time with Jesus—talking to Him, learning from Him and listening for what He might be telling you. If you like music, include that in your time as well. I love music and can’t imagine my time with Jesus without it.
In I Cor. 16:13 we are instructed to Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. We are warned because Satan is walking around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. He does not want us to pray. He does not want us to read our Bibles. He certainly doesn’t want us to love God and others. In fact, in the most subtle ways, he will bring distractions—busyness, even “good” busyness—that will keep us occupied–constantly doing rather than simply being.
Bear Fruit in Your Life Through Daily Prayer
If we are not praying, reading our Bibles or obeying God’s commands, we will NOT bear fruit. In John 15 Jesus is teaching about the requirement of being a fruitful Christian: Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. As you read further, Jesus warns that if you do not remain in Him, you will wither away like a dead branch that gets thrown into the fire and burned. Think about what happens when you don’t eat or drink anything for an entire day. What happens to your body physically? How do you feel? Weak, tired, unable to work. What happens after several days?
What Happens When You Stop Praying?
Well imagine what happens to you spiritually when you stop spending time with Jesus. You become prey for Satan’s three-fold agenda: to seek, to kill and to destroy, and he will stop at nothing. That is why you must be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). When we intentionally love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength–our priorities will reflect His. Our passion for prayer and for God’s word will continue to grow and produce life-giving fruit.
