“The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.” (I Peter 4:7)

A thoughtless person, contemplating the end of the world, might consider that prayer was not of much use near the end: “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. What time is there now for answered prayers? Everything is about over.” But this would be a godless attitude. Prayer is not somehow of LESS importance as we move towards the end; it becomes even MORE vital:

— We are drawing nearer to our appointment with Him in whose presence we will live forever; we must spend even more time in preparation for meeting Him.

— We need to spend more time in prayer purifying our lives from sin as we draw close to the end.

— We need to be praying for lost people to be touched and saved — they are approaching their very last opportunities before “the door of the ark is closed”; we should be even more fervent in our intercessions for them as the end draws near.

— We ought to pray even more for our church to remain faithful amidst the falling away morally and doctrinally which was prophesied would take place in the last days.

— We need to pray that we would personally not be led into temptation, but delivered from evil. “Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation”, Jesus admonished His disciples near the end of His earthly ministry. He would say the same to us today: “Watch and pray”, the end is drawing near.

As Jesus Himself modeled for us in His last hours here on earth, prayer does not somehow become of diminished importance as we draw near to the end of our stay on earth. Rather it becomes even more crucial. So is the end of all things indeed at hand, as many believe? “Therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.”