Reflection Paper: Prayer and Character Development

The purpose of this paper is to reveal a direct correlation between prayer and character development. It is crucial that Christians fully understand this tool that has been put in place in order for us to be able to communicate with the Lord, our Creator.

Praying and communing with the Lord leads to and builds not only a stronger relationship with Christ, but it also continues to build us in strength and character. The reflection of Christ should be evident in the life of a Christian through character traits also known as the fruit of the spirit. Prayer strengthens the character of a Christian because it harnesses the heartbeat of God and ultimately requires the Christian servant to know when to speak and even more importantly when to listen.

THEOLOGICAL EXPLANATION

In Dr. Towns book, “Core Christianity,” page 61, we clearly see that the Theological definition of prayer is “a face-to-face relationship with God”. Luke 18:1 states that Jesus said unto His followers, “Men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”

The word for prayer here is proseuchamai and it came from two words, pros meaning toward and euchamai which means the face. Theologically, there are various extensions of prayer in which we can reach out to Christ. We make our needs and requests known unto the Lord through our prayers and by exalting the Lord.

Prayer is not the only form of communication that we have with the Lord. Praise and worship is another form of communication, spiritual warfare and praying against spiritual enemies, repenting and praying for salvation is communicated in prayer, asking the Lord’s blessings and asking the Lord for healing, not only physical healing, but emotional healing as well. In Colossians 1:9, the scripture reads, “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you , and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

BIBLICAL EVIDENCES

As Christians, we should want to have fellowship with our Creator, the Lord. Genesis 2:7 says, “And the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.”

We also read in the scripture in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace; and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” By reading these scriptures we learn that it is evident the Lord loves His creation, man who is created in His image and He has created all of us with a purpose. In order for us to find the Lord’s entire purpose for us on this earth, we must communicate with Him daily. Christians are to be the example of Christ to the world around us.

The Bible reminds us of the characteristics of his spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” These are the character traits that we should be exemplifying. Prayer keeps us in touch with these. We have a tendency to only want to call on the name of the Lord in troubled times in our lives, however, the Lord wants to communicate with us daily, in good times and in bad times.

We are created in His image and He has many good and wonderful things in store for us, but it takes prayer, waiting on the Lord’s direction and letting Him lead and guide us. We should look forward to going unto the Lord in prayer because this is our private time alone with the God of the Universe, the lover and creator of our soul, the Most High God. He wants to fellowship with each and every one of us individually.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, prayer is a necessity for the Christian journey. Not only does it provide a direct line of communication with God, but it helps to keep us in tune with directions for the Christian walk. We are not invisible in the world.

We are part of society, the work force, the church world and our families. Prayer keeps us strong in dealing with the situations of life that may come at us unexpectedly. We must be careful how we act, react and carry ourselves if we claim the Christian title. Not only are other Christians watching our every move, but most of all, the lost watch even closer.

We must shun all appearance of evil and watch what we say and how we say it. If we claim to be a Christian and use vulgar language, if we are spiteful and full of anger, critical and judgmental and full of discontent all the time, the lost see no testimony of a Christian and believe that if we claim to be a “Christian” and act that way, they would rather not be called a Christian.

This is where the situation gets very dangerous for us as Christians, because we are to be a witness for Christ and to love all men. The Lord may place us in situations where we are with the lost in a work place in order for us to have the opportunity to share the love of Christ to that person or those individuals and if we are not in prayer, seeking the will of the Lord, and act in our own flesh, we miss the opportunity to lead the lost to salvation through Jesus and the blood of that individual is on our hands.

For example, imagine you are on a journey to an unknown place. The travel guide is going to call you to give you specific directions. However, along the journey, you become distracted by travelers on the road, scenery, others in the car and weather. You forget to turn your cell phone on. You miss the call and get way off track.

By the time you realize that you hadn’t been in touch with the guide, it’s become dark. This is how prayer affects our Christian journey. God wants to talk to us. However, we can become so busy with all of the details along the way that we forget to talk to God. In Romans 12:2 the word of the Lord tells us, “And be ye not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

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