1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”

Charles H. Spurgeon once wrote, "He who lives without prayer; he who lives with little prayer; he who seldom reads the Word; he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh influence from on high; he will be the man whose heart will become dry and barren. But he who calls in secret on his God ; who spends much time in holy retirement; who delights to meditate on the words of the Most High; whose soul is given up to Christ; such a man must have an overflowing heart. And as his heart is, such will his life be."

There are two essential for every Christian’s growth in grace and righteousness: Bible study and prayer. Missing either spells doom and failure in the Christian’s life. As Spurgeon said, he who lives without prayer, or little prayer, is the Christian whose heart will become dry and barren. You cannot remain a fresh and vibrant Christian without prayer and being a student of the Word of God. 

In Psalm 92:10 David said, “But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.” The Holy Spirit's anointing the Believer with fresh oil cannot and will not take place apart from Bible study and prayer. One must stay in constant communication with God Almighty to live a life of consistent constant Christian growth. We are to daily open our Bibles in study and to be in a constant attitude of prayer throughout our day to expect a daily anointing of fresh Spiritual oil.

We need to take to heart 1 Timothy 2:15 to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth,” and 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “Pray without ceasing.” The cost for neglecting these two essentials is a dry and barren Christian life.