The true incentive of prayer - the faithfulness of God (1 Kgs 3:6, 7a, 8). When we begin our prayer, we must do as Solomon did - start not with our request, but with God's past faithfulness, with what He has done. No better place to start. Indeed, there's no other place to start. What an incentive is here to speak to this great giving God. Whilst we know in our heads God's liberality when it comes to blessing His children, we still come to Him as if He were an unwilling Father who is reluctant to give to His asking children. But He is faithful - look at His track record. His covenant faithlessness was experienced by Solomon's forefathers in ancient days. He promised that Abraham's seed would be as great as the sand on the seashore, and Solomon now declares that God has kept His promise and has done just that! Whatever promise the LORD has made, he has kept.
Tell me if you know of a greater incentive to prayer than this fact. Solomon began with God's faithfulness, His dependability, His fidelity. So must we. Praise Him for His faithfulness. This gives us confidence in prayer.
Why pray? Because the One to Whom we pray is utterly faithful. We can trust Him completely and in every situation. Begin here. Let me give you another little incentive to pray. Just this week, my wife came under another strange Satanic attack. He tormented her all afternoon, and refused to relent. That is, until about tea-time when she experienced a lifting of her burden, and the rest of the evening was great. Why did this happen? Because someone had been praying for her at that moment. It may have been a Christian friend in Northern Ireland, or England in far away places like India or Panama. Someone unknown to us had uplifted her in prayer, and God answered.
Why did He do that? Because that's the kind of God He is; and that's the kind of God and Father we have.
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