In our last post, we started the theme IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER. And before we go ahead with the focus for today, let’s do a bit of recap.

We laid the foundation for why PRAYER IS IMPORTANT by saying that:

1.        God created Heaven and the Earth and thus, determined how everything should function.

2.       We may not like something, or a routine, or the fact that we have to eat every day, but God has it designed so (although for some of us, it isn’t food we have an issue with. It’s deciding and cooking the food that’s the challenge, smiles). However, the earlier we accept that God designed a thing to be so, the faster we make the best use of that thing.

3.       If God created everything the way He wanted, then our first assignment isn’t to be creative but to sit down and find out what is. To find out the design God has made.

And so, we concluded on this note: “God is my Creator and He determines the conditions for my optimal functioning.”

The last post was generic, but now we’ll begin the building towards PRAYER.  Let’s start again from Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV

“Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them.”

God created man in His image. He didn’t create man in the image of a dog or a Lion or a tree or an angel or anything else. He created man in His image.

Now, if God created man in His image, then all we need to do to find out what man is, is to look for the image of God. Once we find the image of God, then we’ve found the man. And in our search for the image of God, John 4:24 comes to mind.

In John 4:24, God is called a Spirit, by Jesus Himself. Not by Paul, not by Peter, not by a respected Apostle, but by Jesus Himself. Other definitions of God might be true, but we should pay good attention to the testimony of Jesus about God.

Jesus speaking about God said God is a Spirit (remember Jesus was there when God said,

“let Us make man”). That’s His form, that’s His realm, that’s His expression. So, if He, a Spirit created man in His image, then He must have created a spirit. The man was therefore created as a spirit. 

Take a cursory look at Genesis 2:7. Have you ever questioned this creation story??

In Chapter 1, God created man… In Chapter 2, God formed man…

Well, there wasn’t any contradiction.

What God created in chapter 1 was man’s spirit and in chapter 2, He formed him from the dust i.e., his physical body. 

I Thessalonians 5:23 NKJV attempts to show us something.

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

It says spirit, soul, and body… Meaning we have an invisible spirit, an invisible soul, and a visible body! Can YOU say “I have a spirit, a soul, and a body”?

Until we sufficiently digest this truth, we won’t take prayer and a couple of other things seriously.

Continuing from here, every part of us has an environment it functions in just as every form of life has its environment it functions in. For example, a fish has an environment it functions in. Birds have an environment they thrive in; so also, man. In the same way, different animals have different environments in which they thrive (water, air, or land), and different forms of life whether spirit or body have the environments in which they thrive.

There is a physical environment we can see. Land, air, water, trees, animals, etc. Our body can touch and directly interact with these features. These features are proof that if our body has a habitat it can touch, feel, see or hear, then our spirit must also have a habitat it lives in. There must be an invisible/spiritual environment also.  Romans 1:20 NKJV

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,”

This scripture says invisible attributes. Meaning just as we have physical attributes; trees, houses, cars, etc., we also have invisible attributes. Now, imagine you wake up and you don’t receive any impulse from your five senses. Your ears, though functioning, don’t hear any sound. No music, no gist, no message, nothing. Your eyes, though seeing, can’t see any object. I know this one will be hard for those who love sightseeing! You’re just all by yourself. How long will you cope like that? You’ll agree therefore that if your body needs to interact with your physical environment to thrive, then your spirit must need the same. And that is where Prayer comes in! 

If our body needs to relate with the physical world, then our spirit much more needs to relate with the invisible world! Just as you need to talk with someone physically, to see something fun, attend social gatherings, etc., so also, your spirit needs to relate with the invisible. It has an environment, a habitat. And a major way to come into that habitat is through Prayer. Prayer is what releases man’s spirit into its habitat. It is what allows us to hear spirit beings (God, angels, spirit of just men made perfect). It is what gives us access to walk spiritual places. Remember we’re (believers) said to be sitting in the heavenly places. Prayer is a channel through which man’s spirit enters its home just as a fish enters water!

In summary,

1.        Man has an invisible spirit and a visible body.

  1. The body has its environment and features it must interact with daily if it has to survive.
  2. The spirit likewise has an environment it must of necessity relate with. Beings, places, and things in the spirit realm.
  3. A major way to release the spirit into its true environment is by Praying.

I believe that with all these, it will be a grave injustice to our spirit not to drag ourselves to the place of prayer.

Having read this post, I trust that YOU will take up a challenge to develop a habit of prayer, in a bid to bring YOUR spirit into its true habitat. May God help us all.