1. Introduction:
There is a blessing in obedience

1. Matthew 7:24 - "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” – Jesus Said.

2. Philippians 4:9 - Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

3. James 1:22-25 - Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this (practice), not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

Luke 8:21 - He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice."

II. Prayer is one of the best ways to acquire happiness and contentment

There is clear biblical advice from both old and new testaments.(New Living Translation)

Psalm 50: 15 - Trust me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory."

Psalm 55:12 - Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

James 5:13 - Are any among you suffering? They should keep on praying about it. And those who have reason to be thankful should continually sing praises to the Lord.

III. Prayer is a great source of encouragement

Prayer yields fresh and continued outpouring of the Spirit. Romans 8:26 – “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning that cannot be expressed in words”.  (Groaning: sound produced when we were in pain/distress that express our contrite spirit).

IV. Prayer is the identity of a True Christian

1. If a believer wants to shine always he needs to be connected to God always. Eg: cell phone. Talking to the family - “roam”.

The first thing men/women do after they are born again is “PRAY”. Eg: as soon as the baby was born what it does “CRY”. The sign of life is breathing. The characteristic of a new born baby is “crying”; the characteristic of a new born Christian is “praying”. Holy Spirit, who makes believers a new creation, works in the life of a Christian, the feeling of adoption makes them cry “Abba Father” (Roams 8:15).

Prayer is the best proof for true conversion and repentance.

Eg. Jonah 2:1; Paul- Acts 9:1 (God know if we pray or not).

2. True Christian ought to pray and not loose heart (Luke 18 :1)
A parable of a persistent widow

Story of the Persistent Widow(NLT)

1One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up. 2"There was a judge in a certain city," he said, "who was a godless man with great contempt for everyone. 3A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, appealing for justice against someone who had harmed her. 4The judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she wore him out. `I fear neither God nor man,' he said to himself, 5`but this woman is driving me crazy. I'm going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!' "
6Then the Lord said, "Learn a lesson from this evil judge. 7Even he rendered a just decision in the end, so don't you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who plead with him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when I, the Son of Man, return, how many will I find who have faith?"

3. Christians need to be connected to God all the time 24/7.

You may not know people in the other side of the world unless you talked/speak to them.

My dad: “I was just thinking why there is a call from you and was expecting a call because it is almost a week”.

1 Timothy 2: 8 (AMP)
I desire therefore that in every place men should pray, without anger or quarreling or resentment or doubt [in their minds], lifting up holy hands.

Illustration: A pilot needs to be connected to the Air Traffic Controller through out the sector.

4. True Christian will always call the name of the Lord

If you look carefully the lives of saints if the Bible they always called the name of the Lord. ( I Cor. 1:2)

Prayer of Asa, the King of Judah (II Chronicles 14:1-15)

Calling the name of the Lord is the mark of a Christian. The characteristic of the wicked if that they “do not call on the Lord” – Ps 14:4.

Psalm 14: 4 (NLT) - Will those who do evil never learn? They eat up my people like bread;        they wouldn't think of praying to the LORD.

Quote: To be prayer less is to be w/o God- w/o Christ – w/o grace – w/o hope and w/o heaven – J. C. Ryle.

We can breathe God’s air only when we pray. Eg: If you talk to somebody who had just finished smoking you will have the opportunity to breathe the smoke. So is the case.
Ex. Moses:

Exodus 34: 28-30
Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant-the Ten Commandments.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.

Exodus 34
34 But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

Applications: If you talked to a believer friend and left him w/o prayer you missed some thing very special. If you pray you bless him in the Lord.