If I stop praying…

\”If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.\”

John 15:6 KJV

We cannot overstate the need to abide in Jesus. The WAY of Jesus is so simple that it might seem unnecessary to repeat. But if you have been a Christian for any length of time and you are sincere enough, you know that as simple as it is to abide in Christ, we can easily ignore it, take it for granted and get carried away with something else. This is also a manifestation of the presumption we learnt together in the last episode.

How can the Way of Life be so simple and you are dying spiritually? You have to train yourself to attend to eternal things first before temporal things. Make it your priority every day to sit before the LORD before beginning your day. Present yourself unto Him. That is the discipline of abiding in Him. Where are you heading when you have not been with Him? This is why you will struggle with assurance of salvation, victory over sin and feeling empty/burnt out by life pressures.

Today, depression is widespread. Since you are always in a hurry to start your day, you presumptuously get through the day with demonic attacks waiting for you through the rough patches of the day and the hijacking of your thoughts for a spin in anxiety, etc. The only thing you are seeking upon your return is something to play with…something to relax your mood… You are slowly becoming dead again in your sins and trespasses. How long will your Christian life be a religious celebration you observe only on \”holy\”/special days?

Jesus made it clear in John 15:6, \”If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.\” MAKE IT YOUR PRIORITY TO ABIDE IN HIM – hide in the quietness of your room and express your heart to the LORD. Begin reading the Bible systematically. Don\’t read sporadically or haphazardly. In the same way that no student excels by consuming information sporadically rather than progressively, the inner content of your spiritual life cannot be built with a scattered approach.

If you don\’t have a bible reading plan, begin today by reading the New Testament. Start with Matthew. Read one chapter daily. If this is too much, read half a chapter daily. Mark where you stop so you can continue the next morning. In fact, some of you won\’t mind completing the other half in the night and then starting the next chapter the next day. If you get used to this, you can proceed to Bible Study. Get a notebook, where you note the verses that jump out at you and write what you are learning. You can pick a day or two to dig deeper into these verses.

You will notice that the process of Bible reading, Bible studying, and praying engages your thoughts. And since \”as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he\”, you will see that once your mind is preoccupied with heavenly thoughts, your spiritual life begins to take shape and influence your life in all its expressions – family, friendship, career, finance, etc.

If you don\’t abide in Him by neglecting this secret life of Bible reading, Bible studying and praying, you will break off from the Vine… Since life (sap) is not flowing into you from the Vine, you dry up gradually. It is then that the casting forth (detaching and throwing away) is done. Then it becomes withered (fully dried), and all branches like that (all believers who neglect to abide) are eventually disposed of into the fire of eternal damnation (after enough opportunities to be restored).

This takes a process. If you are reading this, you are definitely somewhere in the process. Only those who die have their fate sealed. Wherever you are in the process of abiding or not abiding, there is a step you can take today to strengthen your abiding. If you feel disconnected from the LORD or deserted by the LORD, you are not abiding (enough).

If you stop relating to the LORD, you disconnect yourself from the source of your spiritual life. And usually, the emptiness that follows requires you to replace God with something else. Whatever this something else is for you – music, movies, money, entertainment, yoga, cultism, New Age, magic, voodoo, etc – as long as you are alive, you can return to the LORD. If these things are gradually filling your heart, it is time to be free.

Anything that does not increase your dependence on God, your pursuit of Christ-likeness and your commitment to prayer and the Word of God, is your enemy. The devil is behind the camouflage, masquerading behind it to deceive you. It is time to be free.

If I stop praying, I am only planning to be cut off from my LORD Jesus.

O that no busyness of life will take me away from the place of prayer. No situation will kidnap me from sitting before the LORD to hear Him (Bible reading and studying). Father, I want to abide/remain in union with the Vine (Jesus), please help me. Deliver me from this world\’s sophistication. Help me to be simple enough to give myself to prayer and the ministry of the Word of God. Thank you, Father. In Jesus\’ name.

AMEN.