2026-03-20
Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV
In an old book titled Prevailing Prayer, author Eli Wigle described John Wesley’s prayer life this way: “As a matter of habit and rule, John Wesley’s ordinary private praying consumed two hours a day. At times he would gather his company and pray all night, or till the power of God came down. Nothing was considered too great or too small to take to the Lord. Seized with pain in the midst of preaching, so that he could not speak, ‘I know my remedy,’ he said, and immediately kneeled down. In a moment the pain was gone…
Being seized with a pain, fever and cough, so that he could scarcely speak, ‘I called on Jesus aloud to increase my faith. While I was speaking my pain vanished away, my fever left me, and my bodily strength returned.’… Wesley… stirred the world with the fire of his zeal, because he had stirred heaven by the fire of his prayers. His pleas had access to men’s consciences, because they had access to God.”
Why did Wesley spend two hours each day in prayer?
(1) Because he saw prayer as a cleansing and correcting force. In one of his prayers he said, “Oh, fill up all that is wanting, reform whatever is amiss in me, perfect the thing that concerns me.”
(2) Because he knew that God’s will is the only plan and purpose that God is committed to. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14 NKJV).
Soul food: Hos 1-5; Luke 19:22-40; Ps 116:12-19; Prov 8:10-13
2026-01-01
John 16:24 NKJV
Prayer should be your highest priority. Why? Because when you fail to pray, you set yourself up to fail. You’re saying in essence, ‘I don’t need God’s help or input.’ God comes by invitation. Prayer opens the door and welcomes Him into your situation. Jesus said, ‘Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.’
An unknown poet wrote: ‘I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day. I had so much to accomplish that I didn’t have time to pray. Problems just tumbled about me, and heavier came each task. “Why doesn’t God help me?” I wondered. He answered, “You didn’t ask.” I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, grey and bleak. I wondered why God didn’t show me. He said, “But you didn’t seek.” I tried to come into God’s presence; I used all my keys at the lock. God gently and lovingly chided, “My child, you didn’t knock.” I woke up early this morning and paused before entering the day. I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray!’
The psalmist said, ‘O God… early will I seek thee’ (Psalm 63:1 KJV). The first voice he wanted to hear in the morning was God’s. The first conversation he wanted to have – was with the Lord. Before others made demands on his time and energy, he wanted to know God’s will. Has your prayer life been hit-and-miss? Rearrange things and make it your first priority each day. If you do, you’ll begin to thrive spiritually.
Soul food: Rom 13:12-142; 1 Cor 5:17; Eph 4:22-24
2025-06-09
2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
When we read the verse, “Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ,” we tend to think it’s about capturing sinful thoughts and getting them out of our minds. And it is. But it’s also about capturing creative thoughts and keeping them in our minds. This Scripture also means stewarding every word, every thought, every impression, and every revelation inspired by God’s Spirit.
A pastor writes: “The Aramaic word for ‘prayer’ means ‘to set a trap.’ We often think of prayer as nothing more than words spoken to God, but maybe it’s more than that. Prayer is also when God speaks to us through dreams and desires and promptings and impressions and ideas. Prayer is the mechanism whereby God ideas are conceived and captured. And it’s our capacity for prayer that will ultimately determine our creative potential. One way to set prayer traps is by keeping a prayer journal… Journaling is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated spiritual disciplines in our multitasking culture.”
Your journal captures your journey. It shows you how far you have come and how far you still have to go. It reminds you of God’s grace when you stumbled and His faithfulness that brought you back to the right road after you had taken the wrong one. When you set a prayer trap, you capture each experience and wring the wisdom out of it to be better and stronger. You need to “write down the revelation” (Habakkuk 2:2 NIV). Some of us do this digitally, and others with pen and paper. What matters is that you are recording what God is doing in your head, in your heart, and in your life.
Soul food: 2 Ki 16:1-18:16; Mark 13:12-23; Ps 80:1-11; Prov 13:11-12
2025-05-20
James 5:16 NIV
To understand how prayer is powerful and effective, look at it from a neurological perspective. At the base of our brain lies a cluster of nerves called the reticular activating system (RAS), which monitors our environment. We are constantly bombarded with countless stimuli vying for our attention, and it is the job of the RAS to determine what gets noticed and what goes unnoticed.
For example, you download a new ringtone for your cell phone. You’re sure that you’ve never heard it before. But after downloading it, it seems like everybody else has the same ringtone. It’s not that lots of people went out and downloaded it when you did. It’s the simple fact that when you downloaded that ringtone, it created a category in your RAS. That ringtone went unnoticed by you before you downloaded it because it wasn’t important to you. Once you downloaded the ringtone, the RAS recognized it as relevant. Prayer works that way.
When you pray for someone or something, it creates a category in your reticular activating system. And now you notice everything related to those prayers. A pastor writes: “Have you ever noticed that when you pray, coincidences happen? And when you don’t, they don’t? It’s more than coincidence, it’s providence. Prayer creates divine opportunities. But prayer also sanctifies the reticular activating system and enables us to see the God-ordained opportunities that are all around us all the time. And once we see them, we have to [activate our faith and] seize them.” Prayer is the portal to God’s kingdom and through which His blessings flow to us. So, pray each day.
Soul food: 1 Ki 10-11; Mark 8:27-38; Ps 45; Prov 12:7-9
2025-03-23
Hebrews 10:2 NKJV
To become a worshiper in the fullest sense requires two things. First, an understanding that God’s love toward you is not predicated on your love toward Him. The moment you accept Christ as your Saviour, God accepts you and clothes you in the righteousness of Christ; therefore, you are always worthy to approach Him.
Second, understanding that God’s love for you is not merely a theological concept, but something that is embraced with your heart and responded to through your emotions. In the act of worship, you “let yourself go,” giving yourself without reservation and abandoning yourself to Him. “Worshipers, once purified, would have had no consciousness of sins.”
When you believe that the blood of Jesus has cleansed you from all sin – past, present, and future – you become a worshiper enraptured with His love. Sinful patterns are changed, and stubborn habits are broken when you get your eyes off yourself and focus on Christ. Paul writes, “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18-19 NKJV). Note the words “in your heart to the Lord.”
The psalmist David writes, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Psalm 34:8 NKJV). Note the word “taste.” Picture yourself sitting down to your favourite meal, tasting each bite and savoring each flavour. The truth of God’s love for you must not just remain in your mind; it must be experienced in your heart. When that happens, you are truly worshiping God.
Soul food: Lev 27:30-33; Num 31:48-54; 1 Cor 16:1-3; 2 Cor 9:1-15
