And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Prayer is more than a spiritual discipline to be given a regular place in our busy schedule. True prayer is the constant appeal of the heart to God—urged, instructed, and illuminated by the Holy Spirit. It is our soul’s unbroken song to the Creator, a communion informed by the Scriptures, intoned by the Spirit who searches the depths of God, and modulated by our musings on specific situations in daily life. Hallesby says, “The Spirit of prayer makes us so intimate with God that we scarcely pass through an experience before we speak to him about it, either in supplication, in sighing, in pouring out our woes before him, in fervent requests, or in thanksgiving and adoration.”