Prayer Is Not Optional

Prayer is not optional—it is essential to the believer’s daily life. In Episode 2 of our 7 Days of Prayer series, Bishop Eugene Taylor shares why consistent prayer strengthens us spiritually and helps us remain prepared for life’s challenges.

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Welcome And Devotional Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Equip to Win with Bishop Eugene Taylor. Today, we're continuing our journey through the seven-day devotional. Learn how to build a stronger prayer life in seven days. Each day, we'll explore practical, biblical principles that will help you develop a deeper, more consistent relationship with God through prayer. Whether you're just beginning your prayer journey or looking to strengthen your time with the Lord, this devotional is designed to encourage, equip, and challenge you to grow. Let's open God's word together and discover how a stronger prayer life can transform every area of your life.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Well, God bless you, my friend. This is Bishop Eugene Taylor, and you've been equipped to win. And I want to thank you for joining us for day number two of our Learn How to Build a Stronger Prayer Life in Seven Days. I pray that you've had an opportunity to enjoy your free uh PDF download. But the sessions that you're going to get daily, it's going to be a little more that's going to be included in your sessions. And also they come with this audio teaching as well. But it's been a wonderful experience. Uh, this is something that is passionate in my heart. You know,

Prayerlessness Weakens Your Spirit

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when I first gave my life to the Lord years ago, decades ago, I began to realize that prayer couldn't just be something that I did when I was in trouble. You know how some people say when you have problems and you just fall down on your knees and you call on the Lord, and when you're in trouble, you've got to call on God. I want to tell you, if the only time that you call on God is when you're in trouble, you're going to be in trouble. And I want you to realize that this is the case with many people. Many people are Christians, but they live a life where there's little prayer, no prayer, or they pray seldomly, or they pray when they see seasons of adversity, problems, and trials. I have discovered that prayer has become a very necessary part of my life, and I'm not exclusive. It has to be an important part in the life of a believer. And what one of the greatest lessons that I learned was this with this, I learned that prayerlessness, prayerlessness, prayerlessness is a spiritual disease. Living a life without prayer is a spiritual disease. And you know what we say about a disease? If a person has a disease, you're going to see that they're getting sicker and sicker and more problems and having all kinds of issues going on in their physical body. Well, I want you to know that if you are in a state of prayerlessness, you're going to have the same thing going on with your spirit man. He's going to be weak, he's going to become fatigued, and he's always going to live in a place beneath the privilege that God has for his life. So I started noticing that when my prayer life weakened, things that I'd overcome in the past. I mean, I'd got victory over so many areas in my flesh. But when my prayer life would weaken, guess what would resurface? Those exact same things. They would resurface and I'd become vulnerable to certain things that I had gotten victory over. And that's what I began to understand. What did you understand, Eugene Taylor? I understood that my connection to God through prayer had become my strength. So I want to talk about that a little bit today.

Prayer Strengthens You Against Temptation

SPEAKER_01 3:32

I want to look at Matthew, the 26th chapter, verse 41. And the scripture says, Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. You know, Jesus connected prayer with our ability to withstand temptation. Now I'm going to explain to you why, because when we pray, our spirit man connects to God. The Bible teaches us that God is a spirit, and they that worship him, they worship him in spirit and truth. So when God saves us or we become born again, it is our spirit man that is the part of us that becomes born all over again. When we uh receive the Holy Ghost, it is our spirit man that receives the baptism in the Holy Ghost. So when we pray, we connect to God spirit to spirit and it becomes our strength. Now I want you to hear what I'm saying. Prayer doesn't mean that you won't be tempted. Please don't think because you're praying that you won't be tempted. Jesus went on a fast for 40 days and he went into the wilderness and he was tempted by Satan three recorded times. So by no way am I trying to suggest that prayer will cause you to walk in a state where there's no temptation. No. But what I am saying is something that's greater. I'm saying that prayer will strengthen you in such a way that you will be able to stand through any temptation that the enemy will throw against you. I said you'll be able to stand up against the temptations. See, prayer means you don't have to face those things in your own strength. That makes me so excited that I don't have to face it in my own strength. See, there are things many times that we're going to come up against in this Christian walk. But I don't have to worry about me being strong enough to tackle it by myself. If I stay connected to God, my faith and my trust is in Him, and I know that He's going to carry me through it. So, so there were things in my life. I'm going to be honest with you, um Saints, there were things in my life that I thought I had just simply outgrown. There were things that God delivered me from when I was younger, and I thought I'd outgrown them, but I discovered something, and I discovered something that stayed with me that some of those things weren't gone because time had passed. Some of those things were gone because I stayed in a consistent life of prayer. Prayer had been giving me the spiritual strength to overcome them. And when I stopped doing what made me strong, guess what happened? I began to be weak all over again. I know the preacher many times doesn't talk about that, but I want to talk with you because we're here to strengthen your prayer life. And sometimes we ask the question why am I struggling with this all over again? But the better question we should be asking is, have I stopped doing what I was doing to keep me strong? So

Prayer Creates A Hedge Of Protection

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secondly, I want to say this to you prayer protects you. See, I also discovered that prayer was doing something that I couldn't see. Prayer was functioning like a hedge of protection around you. Prayer will cause uh protection to be around your life, your family, your ministry, your business. You know, you can actually pray that prayer. God put a hedge around my family, put a hedge around my business, put a hedge around those things that pertain to me. As long as I maintained my prayer life, there were areas of my life that remained guarded. But when prayer became inconsistent, I became vulnerable. You know, you see a picture of that with the Israelites when they were fighting against the Amalekites. And you remember Moses was on top of the mountain, and as long as Moses' hands were lifted, he was winning against the war with the Amalekites. Joshua was down in the valley, Joshua was fighting, and Joshua was getting victory. But as soon as Moses' hands got tired and his hands dropped down, Joshua started losing in the war. It's a picture, it's a typology, it's a symbol of us when we stay yielded to God. Some of you realize that when we talk about the Amalekites, I'll always say this: the Amalekites are the descendants of Esau, and it's a typology of the flesh that many times when we are not submitted to God, we'll find that those areas and our fleshly carnal man will begin to get victory in our life. But as long as we stay submitted to God and stay in a prayer place, this is the posture that gives us victory. That's why Jesus didn't just simply say pray. No,

Watch Patterns And Stay Alert

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he said, watch and pray. Be observant, begin to look at cycles and patterns, begin to look at what was happening when I was so strong in my faith. What was happening when I became weak in my faith? You'll begin to realize that there's certain cycles that go on in your life that produce these types of results. So one of the things that prayer does, prayer keeps you in a spiritual, it keeps you spiritually alert, keeps you on God, it keeps you keen, your spiritual senses keen. See, the enemy's always looking for vulnerable places in your life. And one of the most dangerous things we can do is become spiritually comfortable and just assume we've won. I've won in that area. I'm way past that area because we prayed and got victory yesterday. I want you to hear me. What you did yesterday is wonderful, but you need victory and strength for today.

Prayer As Spiritual Maintenance

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Yesterday's prayer doesn't replace today's victory. So you've got to think about your prayer life as spiritual maintenance. You know, some of you got cars, and if you want that car to last every 3,000 miles, some of you may be 5,000 miles. I like to do 3,000 miles. Every 3,000 miles, you've got to get that oil change. And if you don't get that oil change, listen to me, you're gonna have all kinds of problems with that car. Oils changes are preventative maintenance. And you, if you don't do that, you're gonna see that that car is gonna break down. It's the same way with your spirit man. Your spirit man has to have prayer as preventative maintenance, it has to be in communication with God. The Bible said God is a spirit. They that worship him, worship him in spirit and truth. We must make sure that we're connected to God. And we've got to understand that prayer is not only an emergency room. Some people look at prayer as an emergency room, and it is an emergency room, but it's not only an emergency room. Many people talk about when I'm having problems and I'm having trouble. You know, I heard a deacon praying one time. When I have all these problems, I fall down on my knees and I talk to Jesus. Well, that sounds good, but if the only time you fall down on your knees is when you have problems, you're gonna stay on your knees. But prayer's preventative care. You've got to make sure that this becomes a lifestyle. This brings me to point number three. Point number

Staying Connected And Dependent On God

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three says this prayer keeps you connected. I'm gonna say that again for you. Prayer keeps you connected. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5 and 17, pray without ceasing. That doesn't mean that you spend 24 hours a day praying. That's certainly not what I'm saying. So don't you go anywhere telling somebody, Bishop Taylor told me that I should pray without uh ceasing. I can't go to work, I can't get on the job. That's not what I'm saying at all. But I want you to realize that you've got to stay consistent in your prayer. Doesn't mean you're on your knees for 24 hours, but it means that you develop a lifestyle of communication with God. You know that felt good when I said that. I'm gonna say it again. It means that you develop a lifestyle of communication with God. Prayer keeps the connection open, keeps the relationship fresh, keeps my spirit man strong. And that's why prayer cannot be optional. Anything that disconnects you from your source will eventually weaken you. You know, Jesus talks uh in John 15th chapter, verse 5. He said, without me, ye can do nothing. You can't do anything without him. And that's the life of a believer. God wants us to understand that I want you to become totally dependent upon me. Some of you, you, you, you, you're dependent upon God, but you're very dependent upon you. And as you grow in God, you're going to begin to realize that God will take you through circumstances that you'll begin to realize that if God doesn't do this thing, it's just not going to get done. Some of you used to getting out there hustling and just making something happen. And when you get to turning, your wheels get to turning, you just know that you can get it done. But in your maturity, as you walk with God, God will bring you into seasons that you'll begin to realize, no, you're going to be dependent upon me. So prayer keeps us conscious of our dependence upon God. So I don't, I don't just pray because I'm a preacher. That's not the only reason I pray because I'm a preacher. I don't pray because I have problems. No, no, no, no. I don't pray because I need something from God. God, just give me something. Just give me something. No, no, no. I pray because I need God myself. I need him, my brother and my sister. I need him every step of the way. I need him in my life. I'm dependent upon him. I can't walk this Christian walk except I walk it with him and through him. And there should never be a season in my life where I decide I become so strong, so mature. Uh, I'm I'm I'm I'm so rough and tough and so blessed that I no longer need consistent prayer. I need consistent prayer because I need God. I'm gonna say that again. I need consistent prayer because I need God. And here's what I've learned from my own experience. Prayer strengthens me, prayer protects me, prayer keeps me connected. Prayer is not an option. And maybe some of you that are listening to me, you've noticed, you've seen old struggles try to return in your life. Maybe you become vulnerable in certain areas where you used to be strong. Before you condemn yourself, ask yourself, How's my prayer life? Because sometimes the answer isn't that you just need something new, sometimes you just simply need to return to the place that made you strong.

Recap And Free Devotional Invitation

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Listen, it's been good to be with you today. This is Bishop Eugene Taylor, and we are teaching from our PDF. Learn how to strengthen your prayer life in seven days. And I want you to know that this is day number two, and in day number two, we have discussed that prayer is not optional. And guess what just happened? You just got equipped to win. God bless you. I'll see you on the next day.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Thank you for joining us today on Equip to Win. I pray this teaching has encouraged your heart and strengthened your walk with God. If today's message blessed you, be sure to download your free devotional at bishoegenetaylor.org, learn how to build a stronger prayer life in seven days, and continue growing in your prayer life one day at a time. Until next time, keep seeking God, keep standing on his word, and keep walking in the victory that Christ has already provided. And always remember, you've been equipped to win. God bless you.