>Piper on Prayer

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And meanwhile the devil is whispering all over this room: “The pastor is getting legalistic now. He’s starting to use guilt now. He’s getting out the law now.” To which I say, “To hell with the devil and all of his destructive lies. Be free!” Is it true that intentional, regular, disciplined, earnest, Christ-dependent, God-glorifying, joyful prayer is a duty? . . . Is it a discipline?

You can call it that.

* It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes underwater. * It’s a duty the way pilots listen to air traffic controllers. * It’s a duty the way soldiers in combat clean their rifles and load their guns. * It’s a duty the way hungry people eat food. * It’s a duty the way thirsty people drink water. * It’s a duty the way a deaf man puts in his hearing aid. * It’s a duty the way a diabetic takes his insulin. * It’s a duty the way Pooh Bear looks for honey. * It’s a duty the way pirates look for gold.

I hate the devil, and the way he is killing some of you by persuading you it is legalistic to be as regular in your prayers as you are in your eating and sleeping and Internet use. Do you not see what a sucker he his making out of you? He is laughing up his sleeve at how easy it is to deceive Christians about the importance of prayer.

God has given us means of grace. If we do not use them to their fullest advantage, our complaints against him will not stick. If we don’t eat, we starve. If we don’t drink, we get dehydrated. If we don’t exercise a muscle, it atrophies. If we don’t breathe, we suffocate. And just as there are physical means of life, there spiritual are means of grace. Resist the lies of the devil in 2009, and get a bigger breakthrough in prayer than you’ve ever had.