A couple weeks ago we had our fall week of prayer here at Koinonia. These weeks of prayer are a time when we set nearly every other area of ministry aside and go before our precious Lord and seek His face and will for our lives and church family.

It is no coincidence that what preceded the Day of Pentecost was a 40-day prayer meeting attended by 120 disciples of The Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 1:13-15, 2:1). When Jesus rebuked the religious charlatans for ripping off the worshippers of God financially, He declared that they had turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves (Luke 19:45-46).

I pondered on those words of Jesus and had to ask myself what are the thieves that keep me from prayer? Busyness? Lack of discipline? Lack of desire? Some easily besetting sin? Ministry? I realized that I was just as guilty of allowing a number of things to rob me of time with The Lord in prayer.

Even as I write this devotional, I think about how many times I look at my list of “things to do”, and tell myself that I will spend some time praying later. Truth be told, the phone rings, the calendar of deadlines on my computer screams at me, and that intended time of prayer is lost to the tyranny of demands. I do not believe that I am talking only to myself right now. I have come to believe that effective prayer is both spontaneous and “scheduled”. I need to make deliberate efforts to spend time before The Lord every day, and I also need to learn how to be instant in season as well.

I urge each and every one of you to make the time to be here for prayer this week, be it early in the morning, during the office hours, or for our evening prayer meetings. There will be 24-hour prayer from Friday night to Saturday night at 7PM. The family that prays together serves together. Times of great need require times of great prayer. These are such times in our nation, in our families, and in our church (1 Peter 4:7). Please invest a portion of your week in earnest prayer with us as we seek His face (Psalm 27:8).