Praying for All Saints

Discipleship Devotional, January 28th, 2025

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
– Ephesians 6:18 (KJV)

The importance of prayer in the life of every believer cannot be overemphasized. Prayer preserves us as God grants us strength and peace, even as He goes ahead to cause changes for us. The truth is, every believer needs to have a prayer life. This is because we all will become weak without the influence of God’s power, which is made available in prayer (James 5:16).

When we don’t pray, we can become exposed to satanic deception. This is because we won’t be full of discernment when we aren’t prayerful. In fact, listing the disadvantages of not being prayerful would completely take an entire journal because they are innumerable. However, just to say more, the lack of a healthy prayer life increases your propensity to commit some grievous sins that you never imagined you were capable of. Jesus told His disciples:

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
– Matthew 26:41 (KJV)

Today’s devotional isn’t just about the importance of prayer; it is about the importance of praying for one another—i.e., praying for others, not just yourself. Having seen just a few of the benefits of prayer, you should know that if you love your fellow believers, then you must pray for them.

Though we do not encourage anyone to be prayerless, we know that it is not every time that everyone has a strong, vibrant spiritual life. At times, some are going through hard times that make them unable to pray. It is a church with a strong culture of praying for one another that keeps such believers in those trying times.

For example, we know that prayer protects us even in our journeys. When we are prayerful for one another, when someone weak at a particular moment is traveling, you don’t know if it’s your prayers that will preserve them. Never assume a brother or sister is having a great prayer life in private. You don’t know that—always pray for one another. The fact that they pray fervently in church doesn’t mean that they are praying at home.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help me to commit myself to prayer for my brothers and sisters in Christ—not just in my local assembly, but for all believers all over the world.