The only way to rejoice always is to pray continually through close, daily fellowship with the God who supplies us with supernatural, soul-satisfying joy. Continual prayer is a posture of unceasing dependence on God. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7, NIV)” Obviously, the closer a man or woman is to The Lord, the more they see their need for prayer. Prayer is a personal inventory of our spiritual needs and a private audience with Him”Who sticks closer than a brother”. Who better to learn this from, but Jesus. We can learn from others, but a one-on-one conversation is a lot better and more powerful. Jesus speaks in Matthew 18:20 Easy English Bible> Two or more people may meet together because they believe in me. If they do that, I will be there with them.’
It reads in Luke 11:1-13 Easy English Bible> One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place. He finished praying. Then, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Master, John taught his disciples how to pray. Please teach us as he did.’ Jesus replied, ‘When you pray, you should say this: “God, our Father, we want people to give honor to you. We want the day when you rule everyone to come soon. Please give us the food that we need each day. Forgive us for our sins, because we also forgive everyone who has done wrong things against us. And do not let us agree to do wrong things.” ’ Jesus then told a story to teach them how to pray. He said, ‘Let me tell you about someone who goes to a friend’s home at midnight. “My friend,” he says, “please give me three loaves of bread. A friend of mine is on a journey and he has arrived at my house. But I have no food to give him.” But his friend answers from inside his house. He says, “Do not cause problems for me! I have locked my door. My children and I have gone to bed. So I cannot get up and give you any bread.” ’ Then Jesus said, ‘I will tell you what will happen. Perhaps your friend will not give you anything just because you are good friends. But if you continue to knock and ask for bread, your friend will get up. He will give you bread, as much as you need. So I tell you this. Continue to ask God for what you need. Then God will give it to you. Continue to look for what you need. Then you will find it. Continue to knock at the door and God will open it for you. Everyone who asks for something will receive it. Everyone that looks for something will find it. God will open the door for everyone who knocks on it. Some of you are fathers. If your son asks you for a fish, you would not give him a snake instead. If he asks you for an egg, you would not give him something dangerous. You are bad. But even you know how to give good things to your children. Your Father in heaven knows much better than you do how to give good things to his children. So he will give the Holy Spirit to everyone who asks him.’