The Principles of Prayer XXXIX

 Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

My eldest daughter is fully convinced she doesn’t like fruit. Has she ever eaten any? No, that would be logical and make some sort of sense, but without having had a banana, an apple, a pear, or watermelon, she is certain, beyond a shadow of doubt, that she’ll hate it, and it will be the grossest thing she’s ever put in her mouth.

Unbeknownst to her, my wife blends apple puree into the pancake batter, mixes banana into the muffins she bakes, and does her best to ensure that she gets some fruit in her diet.

My youngest, on the other hand, would eat fruit with every meal, and there is no fruit she won’t try at least once to see if she likes it. From kiwi to mango to papaya to the more commonplace apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, and plums, she eats them all with delight, insisting with every opportunity how delicious they are to her sister’s chagrin.

Those who have never tasted cannot know that the Lord is good. You can try to explain it to them, describe what it is to have fellowship with God, be in His presence, and hear His voice, but until such a time as they themselves come before Him in humility with expectation and anticipation, they cannot know the full measure of it.

It’s no accident that those who have started the journey of a life of prayer continue to walk it until their last day. It’s not as though countless people throughout the millennia, on different continents, from diverse backgrounds, speaking different languages, somehow colluded to tell everyone how effective and fruitful prayer was, while they found it underwhelming and easily replaceable with some other pursuit.

As far as conspiracy theories go, that would be a whopper, on the same scale as those who insist that well over half of humanity has been replaced by robots wearing human skin suits, and soon enough, will replace the other half. Given that the tools men use to collude with each other in our modern era did not exist until recently, it’s not just improbable, but impossible that all the men and women who testified to the great and wondrous benefits of prayer somehow secretly got together and wove a false narrative that has been perpetrated for thousands of years.

Even so, men would rather cling to the most improbable hypothetical theories to justify their unwillingness to submit to the Word and follow the examples of those who came before them than humble themselves and put in the time to get to know God. They’ll focus on the one individual who insists prayer doesn’t work because they prayed for a new Porsche and never got it, rather than the thousands of testimonies that highlight the power of prayer and the benefits thereof.

If you taste, you will see that the Lord is good. You cannot form an opinion about something without having experienced it, nor should your opinion be considered as viable or factual. Those who pray consistently and prioritize prayer as needful and necessary know what it is to feel the presence of God, feel the indwelling of His Spirit, and walk in His authority. Those who don’t will insist that it’s cumbersome and mundane, and doesn’t do much of anything, even though they’ve never committed to it as the Word says we ought.

Ephesians 6:14-18, “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked on. And take up the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”

We’re quick to quote the first part of this passage, but less so the latter. Putting on the whole armor of God and praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit are part of the same body of instruction. We cannot do one but fail to do the other, and still expect to be battle-ready, at full strength, and ready to take on the darkness.

If you want to stand, then the set of instructions Paul laid out in his letter to the church at Ephesus is non-negotiable. You wake up every morning and conduct an armor check, ensuring your waist is girded with truth, your breastplate is well-fastened, your feet are shod, your shield is at hand, your helmet is on, your sword is sharp, and then pray. Pray always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end.

It’s not something we do haphazardly, but methodically, almost ritualistically, to the point that it becomes like muscle memory. When a soldier goes to war, he makes sure he has everything he needs. He doesn’t hope it’s there, but he checks, double-checks, and triple-checks that all the necessary tools for warfare are present and accounted for, knowing it can be the difference between life and death.

If you show up to the battle with an empty scabbard, it’s not as though you can borrow a sword from someone else, and the same goes for every article of armor with which you must be clothed.

God won’t send anyone into battle without providing everything they need to stand and be victorious. However, because some are neither sober-minded nor methodical in ensuring that they have the armor they’ve been provided, and that their strength and lines of communication are in good working order, they show up to battle in nothing more than a pair of khakis and a muscle shirt.

It’s not God’s fault that you packed your armor away the day you received it, or that you never once bothered to unsheathe your sword, wield it, and see how it fits in your hand. When we dismiss God’s instruction, we do so at our peril and to our detriment. Whatever newfangled way someone insists they’ve come up with to circumvent the necessary will eventually and inevitably lead to ruin, because the only way to spiritual growth and maturity is clearly outlined in God’s Word.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Posted on 3 June 2025 | 11:16 am