A Devotional on the Importance of Prayer

In the past, I’ve written things like: “From the time we are able to, till the day we die, prayer is the most important thing we can do,” and “Prayer is our greatest weapon against the kingdom of darkness.”

Today, I’d like to share how prayer is presented to us from the Bible.

From the first pages of Scripture to the final worship scenes in Revelation, one truth echoes through the story of God and His people: prayer is not simply an activity of the believer — it is the life and breath of our relationship with God. It is how we walk with Him, know Him, love Him, and remain in His presence.

In the Old Testament, Scripture speaks mysteriously but beautifully about Enoch:

Genesis 5:24
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Enoch did not merely believe in God — he walked with Him. That language does not describe an occasional religious duty. It speaks of continual communion — a heart turned Godward in every season, every step, every moment. That is the essence of prayer. To walk with God is to live in ongoing awareness of His presence — speaking, listening, trusting, and loving. Long before Paul wrote,

1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing.

—Enoch was already living it.

The stillness and quietness of prayer is also our opportunity to hear God’s voice. Prayer is not only speaking to God and telling him our needs — it is listening for His guidance, His comfort, and His leading. This is something every believer has access to through the Holy Spirit. And I believe this is how Enoch walked with God: in daily conversation, trust, and attentive listening to the heart of God.

When we reach the Gospels, we see that Jesus did not simply teach prayer — He Himself prayed continually. He prayed at His baptism, before miracles, in solitude, in sorrow, before choosing the disciples, over meals, in Gethsemane, on the cross, and in praise to His Father. Depending on how we count the distinct occasions, Scripture records about 25 times Jesus prayed. If the Son of God lived a life wrapped in prayer, how much more must we?

And when His disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray,” Jesus gave them the Model Prayer — but He did not stop there. In Luke 11, He continued to teach persistence in asking, seeking, and knocking. Then He ended by saying the Father would give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. Prayer and the Spirit belong together. The greatest gift God gives in response to prayer is Himself.

Prayer is fellowship with God through the Spirit — a relationship, not a ritual.

Paul understood this deeply. Across his letters he uses the words pray, praying, prayer, and prayers 42 times. He prays for churches, urges constant prayer, thanks God continually, and asks others to pray for him. Prayer saturates his writing because it saturated his life. To Paul, prayer is not an occasional emergency line to Heaven — it is how the believer breathes.

And when he writes,

1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing.

—he is not commanding nonstop talking. He is calling us to live every moment in communion with God, open to His presence and responding to Him in every circumstance.

The Bible doesn’t merely command prayer — it places prayer in the very center of the life of God’s people. And Revelation pulls back the veil so we can see what happens to our prayers in Heaven itself.

Revelation 5:8
…having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Revelation 8:4
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God…

Our prayers do not vanish. They are not whispers lost to the wind. They are offered before the throne of God and treasured. Prayer is worship. Prayer is communion. Prayer is eternal.

So prayer is not merely what Christians do — it expresses who we are: God’s children, living in relationship with our Father.

From the time we are first able to understand, until the final breath we take, nothing matters more than prayer. Not because God needs our words — but because we need His presence. Prayer forms the unseen bond between our hearts and His. It shapes our desires, stills our fears, realigns our priorities, strengthens our faith, and keeps us close to the One who made us.

We pray when we rejoice.
We pray when we suffer.
We pray when confused.
We pray when grateful.
We pray in silence.
We pray in words.
We pray in tears.
We pray in hope.

And sometimes, when we cannot even find the words, the Spirit Himself helps us pray.

Through prayer, we learn to walk with God like Enoch.
Through prayer, we follow the example of Jesus.
Through prayer, we heed Paul’s exhortation to constant communion.
Through prayer, we join the heavenly worship of Revelation.

Prayer is both our highest privilege and our deepest calling.

So let us not treat prayer as an afterthought — a spiritual task to squeeze into the corners of life. Let us see it as the very essence of life with God. Let us cultivate hearts that turn instinctively toward Him in every moment. Let us pray when we rise, walk, work, rest, struggle, rejoice, worship, and breathe.

For someday, when our earthly prayers are finished and faith becomes sight, we will realize something beautiful:

Every prayer — every whispered plea, every cry for mercy, every word of thanksgiving, every groan of the heart — has been gathered before God’s throne and treasured in His presence.

And far more than answering prayer…
God has used prayer to draw us near to Himself.

May we, like Enoch, walk with God.
May we, like Jesus, live a life soaked in prayer.
May we, like Paul, pray without ceasing.
And may our prayers rise like incense — forever in the presence of the God who loves us.

Amen.

Hearing God

Prayers bring comfort