Prayer can be practiced by a small child.  Prayer cannot be completely mastered by the most mature follower of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Prayer can range from the cry of a tax collector, “God be merciful to me a sinner” to the powerful, elegant prayer of Jesus recorded in the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of John.  That God, the Creator of all things, would invite us to confidently approach His throne with the promise of grace and mercy should drive us to our knees before Him.

We need the sensitivity to God’s presence that comes from spending time with Him in prayer.  We need this at all times.  Yet, there are those seasons in our personal lives, the life of a church or the conditions facing a nation that call for concerted, intense prayer.  Jesus modeled this when He spent all night in prayer before choosing the twelve apostles. (Luke 6:12-16) King Hezekiah went to the temple to pray for help at the threat of the superior force of the Assyrians.  (2 Kings 19:14-19)

Prayer is an absolute necessity when we are faced with things beyond our ability.