The precepts of the LORD....are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. Psalm 19

One aspect of the Fall is that we value too highly that which does not deserve such attention, and we disregard what is most valuable. Considering that the word of God is just that - the WORD OF GOD! - is it not amazing that we can ramain so casual as to its influence on our lives?

Jonathan Edwards has an admonition for us today:

You all have by you a large treasure of divine knowledge, in that you have the Bible in your hands; therefore be not contented in possessing but little of this treasure.

God hath spoken much to you in the Scripture; labour to understand as much of what he saith as you can.

God hath made you all reasonable creatures; therefore let not the noble faculty of reason or understanding lie neglected.

Content not yourselves with having so much knowledge as is thrown in your way, and as you receive in some sense unavoidably by the frequent inculcation of divine truth in the preaching of the word, of which you are obliged to be hearers, or as you accidentally gain in conversation; but...

.....let it be very much your business to search for it, and that with the same diligence and labour with which men are wont to dig in mines of silver and gold.

JONATHAN EDWARDS

They all joined together constantly in prayer....Acts 1:14

So what did the early believers know about prayer? It's safe to say that there would have been no Acts 2 without the prayer of Acts 1. History was shaped in that upper room by the prayers of those 120 faithful.

So what happens when we don't pray? P. T. Forsythe opens up the consequences,  detailing what we lose.

"The prayerless spirit saps a people's moral strength because it blunts their thought and conviction of the Holy. It must be so if prayer is such a moral blessing and such a shaping power, if it pass, by its nature, from the vague volume and passion of devotion to formed petition and effort."

"Prayerlessness is an injustice and a damage to our own soul, and therefore to its history, both in what we do and what we think. The root of all deadly heresy is prayerlessness."

"Prayer finds our clue in a world otherwise without form and void. And it draws a magic circle round us over which the evil spirits may not pass. "Prayer," says Vinet, "is like the air of certain ocean isles, which is so pure that there vermin cannot live. We should surround ourselves with this atmosphere, as the diver shuts himself into his bell ere he descends into the deep.The worst sin is prayerlessness.....we are left by God for lack of seeking Him." P.T. Forsythe

Ok, so we don't want that, do we? What can we expect when we do pray?

"The potency of prayer hath subdued the strength of fire; it hath bridled the rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the gates of heaven, assuaged diseases, repelled frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt."

"Prayer is an all-efficient panoply, a treasure undiminished, a mine which is never exhausted, a sky unobscured by clouds, a heaven unruffled by storm. It is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings." Chrysostom

"The prayers of God's saints are the capital stock in heaven by which Christ carries on His great work upon earth. The great throws and mighty convulsions on earth are the results of these prayers."

"Earth is changed, revolutionized, angels move on more powerful, more rapid wing, and God's policy is shaped as the prayers are more numerous, more efficient." E. M. Bounds

It's a no-brainer. Just what are we waiting for??