Our prayer motivator verses for today is Psalm 5:2-3 which reads: “Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

God is a prayer-hearing God. Such he has always been, and he is still as ready to hear prayer as ever. The most encouraging principle of prayer, and the most powerful plea in prayer, is, to look upon him as our King and our God. David also prays to a sin-hating God. sin is folly, and sinners are the greatest of all fools; fools of their own making. Wicked people hate God; justly are they hated of him, and this will be their endless misery and ruin. Let us learn the importance of truth and sincerity, in all the affairs of life. Liars and murderers resemble the devil, and are his children, therefore it may well be expected that God should abhor them. These were the characters of David’s enemies; and such as these are still the enemies of Christ and his people.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: Dedicated prayer with your family will be the most difficult thing you will do in your life, and the devil will fight against you on this like nothing else. But prayer is a fight you must win for the glory of God and for your family. Men, as I Corinthians 16:13 says, “Quit yourself like a man” and lead your family into victorious spiritual warfare!

Our prayer motivator quote today is from John F. Walvoord. He said: “In prayer we can approach God with complete assurance of His ability to answer us. There is no limit to what we can ask, if it is according to His will.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 26 of our series titled “THE SIN OF PRAYERLESSNESS” from Dr. John R. Rice.

It seems likely that Abraham’s prayer saved Lot alive out of Sodom. And we know God heard the prayers of Esther and her maidens and of Mordecai and his friends to save the lives of the Jews who were to be destroyed by Haman’s conspiracy, as told in the book of Esther. God would stop war and give us victory sooner if we prayed as we ought, saving millions of lives.

So, because of our prayerlessness we miss many, many blessings. People are sick when they might be well. Some die when they might live. Businesses fail when they might prosper. And people go hungry and without proper clothing who might be covered and fed to the glory of God if they would but pray.

+ Plus, listen to Avalon singing “If My People Pray”

Our prayer motivator passage for today is II Chronicles 33:10-13 which reads: “And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

We notice from this passage that Manasseh prayed to God for the pardon of sin and the return of his favour. Prayer is the relief of penitents, the relief of the afflicted. That is a good prayer, and very pertinent in this case, which we find among the apocryphal books, entitled, The prayer of Manasses, king of Judah, when he was held captive in Babylon. Whether it was his or no is uncertain; if it was, in it he gives glory to God as the God of their fathers and their righteous seed, as the Creator of the world, a God whose anger is insupportable, and yet his merciful promise unmeasurable. He pleads that God has promised repentance and forgiveness to those that have sinned, and has appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved, not unto the just, as to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but to me (says he) that am a sinner; for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea: so he confesses his sin largely, and aggravates it. He prays, Forgive me, O Lord! forgive me, and destroy me not; he pleads, Thou art the God of those that repent, and concludes, Therefore I will praise thee for ever, etc.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: It is a crime for a man to leave his wife and children in the morning without spending serious time with them in prayer. Sir, the greatest thing that you can do for your family is make it your business to pray with them each day, preferably early in the morning, but any time of the day will work. In the spirit of Nike, “Just Do It!”

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Watchman Nee. He said: “Negligence in prayer withers the inner man. Nothing can be a substitute for it, not even Christian work. Many are so preoccupied with work that they allow little time for prayer. Hence they cannot cast out demons. Prayer enables us first inwardly to overcome the enemy and then outwardly to deal with him.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 25 of our series titled “THE SIN OF PRAYERLESSNESS” from Dr. John R. Rice.

The Bible does not teach that one who prays may live forever, without dying, but it certainly does teach that many die prematurely when they might live longer with great blessing if they had prayed.

Likewise, other people die because we do not pray. For example, God had planned to destroy the whole nation of Israel and make of Moses and his family a new nation; but Moses prayed and God forgave them and did not do “the evil which he thought to do unto his people.”

+ Plus, listen to Bart Millard singing “Have a Little Talk with Jesus”

Our prayer motivator passage for today is II Chronicles 33:10-13 which reads: “And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

We notice from this passage that Manasseh humbled himself greatly before him, was truly sorry for his sins, ashamed of them, and afraid of the wrath of God. It becomes sinners to humble themselves before the face of that God whom they have offended. It becomes sufferers to humble themselves under the hand of that God who corrects them, and to accept the punishment of their iniquity. Our hearts should be humbled under humbling providences; then we accommodate ourselves to them, and answer God’s end in them.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: Families are in need of a great amount of intercession. Even if your marriage and family seem strong right now, seek out those families in your community who are on the rocks and make it your mission to pray for them daily.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Andrew Murray. He said: “Here is the reason why many people pray for the power of the Holy Ghost, and they get something, but oh, so little! because they prayed for power for work, and power for blessing, but they have not prayed for power for full deliverance from self.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 24 of our series titled “THE SIN OF PRAYERLESSNESS” from Dr. John R. Rice.

In 1 Chronicles 10:13,14 we are told about King Saul’s death, “So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; And enquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.” Here it is clearly inferred that Saul died for his transgressions, and particularly for asking counsel of a spiritualistic medium instead of praying to the Lord.

On the other hand, King Hezekiah was “sick unto death.” God sent Isaiah to say to him in Isaiah 38:1, “Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.” But Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed and God raised him up and gave him fifteen years. Clearly Hezekiah would have died according to God’s first plan. When he prayed, God changed His plan!

+ Plus, listen to Tobymac singing “City On Our Knees”

Our prayer motivator passage for today is II Chronicles 33:10-13 which reads: “And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.”

My personal encouragement to you today is this: May I lovingly encourage you to pray, pray, pray: pray for yourself, pray for your neighbour, pray for those who are already saved, pray for our governmental officials; pray for souls to be saved. And if, perhaps you are not saved, pray and ask God to save your soul. God loves you more than you love yourself and He wants to save you, so that you can begin your own prayerful relationship with Him. The Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Michael Youssef. He said: “The prayers that seek to glorify God, to honor Him, to further the work of His kingdom, to transform the hearts of nonbelievers, to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ, and to reveal His majesty–those are the prayers that are most powerful.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 23 of our series titled “THE SIN OF PRAYERLESSNESS” from Dr. John R. Rice.

Israel wandered forty years in the wilderness before entering the land of promise, which they could have had, which God wanted them to have, before. I waited to marry until I had finished college and paid up school debts, and then my bride told me she would have married me before if I had asked her! So much of the poverty and frustration and lack of victory and joy comes to Christians simply because they do not pray. Oh, the results of prayerlessness!

Many Christians die prematurely because they do not pray. There are a number of Bible examples of this. Second Chronicles 16:12, 13 tells us, “And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.” Asa was sick. In his disease “he sought not to the Lord but to the physicians,” and he died. The clear implication is that had he prayed, he would have lived.

+ Plus, listen to Natalie Grant singing “Waiting for a Prayer”

Our prayer motivator verse for today is II Kings 20:1-5 which reads: “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.”

My personal encouragement to you today is this: God is in Heaven waiting to hear from us through prayer. Some think God is too busy with billions of people around the world to listen to their prayer. But God is interested in hearing your prayer and He is waiting to answer your prayer. Just pray!

Our prayer motivator quote today is from an Unknown Author. He said: ““I look at a stone cutter hammering away at a rock a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the 101st blow it splits in two. I know it was not the one blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 22 of our series titled “THE SIN OF PRAYERLESSNESS” from Dr. John R. Rice.

Many are undecided, in doubt about duty. They lack wisdom because they have not obeyed God when He commanded in James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not.” Such Christians “have not, because they ask not.” They do not ask and therefore they do not receive. They do not seek and therefore they do not find. They do not knock and to them the door is not opened.

Sometimes there are other hindrances, but many, many times we simply have not because we ask not. Many of God’s children go through this world as orphans, as if God did not love them, as if God were not able or willing to care for His own. How sad!

+ Plus, listen to CeCe Winans singing “Say a Prayer”