Hebrews 10:19
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,”
Staying passionate about something that you can do everyday or some place you regularly visit is no easy task. I was preaching in the Washington, D.C. area and the pastor asked me and another preacher if we wanted to go and see some of the sights of the city. I rarely do this, but I wanted to this time because of the meaning of many of those sights. As this pastor drove us around, we were discussing the meaning of each sight he was taking us to when he said that it is difficult to keep the passion about them because he grew up around the city. This is certainly no indictment of the pastor, but it is the reality of human patterns.
Keeping a passionate prayer life will take work. Because Christians can run to God in prayer at any time, if we are not careful we can lose our passion in prayer. God says that He wants us to enter boldly into the “holiest.” In other words, God wants us to stay passionate in our prayer. The following verses teach us how to stay passionate.
First, be convinced of your need. God says in verse 22, “Let us draw near with a true heart…” It is hard to be passionate if you are not convinced that you have a need. Friend, don’t be overconfident in yourself. Realize you need God with every aspect of your life.
Second, have confidence in God. God continues in verse 22 by saying, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith…” You will never keep the passion in your prayer life if you don’t have the confidence that God will do what He says He will do. God has never failed, and you must never forget that.
Third, be right with your fellow man. God continues in the verse by saying, “…having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience…” When you’re not right with man, it will affect your ability to pray. God commands us to get right with our fellow man before we come to Him because you cannot be right with God if you are not right with man. Don’t let your prayer life be hindered by having ought against someone else.
Fourth, live a clean life. God wants “our bodies washed with pure water.” In other words, you will have a hard time keeping a passionate prayer life when you are living in sin. One of the easiest ways to keep a passionate prayer life is to stay right with God.
Fifth, stay faithful to church. God commands in verse 25 to not forsake “…the assembling of ourselves together…” Being around other Christians and hearing the preaching of the Word of God helps the Christian to pray with passion. You receive the encouragement from other Christians about answered prayers and you’re reminded of God’s power and faithfulness through the preaching of the Word of God. These help you to stay passionate in your prayer life.
Praying with passion will only be accomplished by doing these five things. God expects us to be passionate in our prayer, and by being passionate you will have a better chance of getting your prayers answered.