If you want to live a godly life, pray.
It requires personal prayer time to build our relationship with God. Spend time in prayer if you want to grow in Christ and live as the Bible says.
I learned this one Sunday morning from a visiting missionary. I like to sit near the front in church. I usually sit in the second row right behind the pastor to avoid distractions during the service. Visiting missionaries sit with the pastors in front of me.
One week a missionary from Africa sat in front of me. Now, I had read that African theology is a little different than ours. So, I asked him about this expecting him to say well they see this belief like this and that belief like that. Instead, he gave me a truism that presents a message for both Africans and Americans.
He said, “In Africa they do not have much knowledge of the Bible or theology. They get some things wrong.” I understand this as it is difficult for people to leave their old belief system behind and accept a new one without trying to mix them together. The Catholics had this problem with the Hispanic’s celebration of the “Day of the Dead.” This is the kind of problems they are having in Africa now. They are working to train pastors who can then train the people in what the Bible teaches. He continued, “But they pray a lot. When I am there in Africa preaching, I pray a lot. Furthermore, they live out what they believe because they pray a lot.”
Then he talked of America’s knowledge of the Bible. How our pastors are well trained. We understand the message of the Bible and our theology is pretty much on the mark. Then he gives me the real kicker, the punch line, the part that bites at the heart of the problem in the American churches and the hearts of many American Christians, “But in America, people do not pray so they DO NOT live what they believe.” Ouch! Need I say more. We need our prayer time. Have you seen the movie “War Room?”