Jefferson Baptist’s “Five Days of Prayer” started today. The time I spent in the prayer room today was spiritually renewing. If I were to write a biography of my life, my growth in the discipline of prayer and my level of faith in the power of prayer would be the foundation of all that has happened to me as a Christian. God has blessed me in every area of my life, and I am sure that most of those blessings, especially in my ministry accomplishments and my family, are a result of prayer. I didn’t do many extraordinary things to accomplish what I have in ministry or in my family, no more than most others have done. However, I have prayed a lot, and the amount of praying I have done over the years has increased steadily. My faith that God hears and answers my prayers has also steadily grown. My devotion to prayer started in February 1989 at the first Pastor’s Prayer summit at Cannon Beach. I prayed before that, almost everyone prays, but that event jump-started a whole new level of devotion to prayer in my life. After the Prayer Summit, I wrote out seven clear goals regarding prayer. Even though I didn’t have a lot of faith in prayer at that time, I prayed faithfully, privately, corporately with my church family, with other pastors, and with my wife. I kept up the commitment to praying because I made the goal and was faithful to what I wrote down that I would do. As I continued faithfully in prayer, my faith in the power of prayer grew. As my faith grew, prayer became less and less a duty because I knew God would work in me, through me, and around me the more I prayed. I began to pray more and more because I was greedy for more blessings, fruit, and growth, and I knew that the more I prayed, the more God would bless. Praying became a “no-brainer.” Praying seemed a small price to pay for success in life, my family, and my ministry.