WHY NOT PRAY?

2 Chron 7:14-15
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. –NIV

As Christians why wouldn’t we pray? We all know that prayer should be as much a part of a follower of Christ as eating, drinking and sleeping. The question isn’t whether we should pray but how, when, where or what.

BUT the truth is we DO have to be encouraged to pray. It is not a modern day phenomena either. Paul constantly had to remind and encourage the early church to pray, church history gives further evidence of our neglect for prayer, and in pulpits across America today church leaders are forever having to remind their flocks to pray.

Why? Let’s be honest and list a few reasons Christians do not pray…

*Do we really believe in Prayer?
-intellectual acceptance and personal experience are worlds apart. We would all say we believe in prayer but if you’ve never experienced meeting God in prayer it is hard to believe it is necessary or beneficial

*Some avoid prayer because they are avoiding God
-it is absurd of course. We know we cannot hide from God. Yet guilt, fear or shame can keep us from coming to God in prayer.

*Avoid prayer out of laziness
-Prayer is a spiritual discipline and takes effort. In a world full of distractions it takes effort to pray.

*Some give up on prayer because they are angry with unmet expectations
-Believe in God, trust in Christ but give up on prayer because God did not respond in a particular way they felt He should

*Some people do not know how to pray
-many people avoid conversation with other people. Same goes with God. Initiating a conversation can be intimidating.

The truth is Satan does not want us to pray. As a Christ follower, Satan will use whatever distractions, discouragements or intimidation to keep you from prayer. WHY? Because as Christ followers PRAY IS OUR GREATEST WEAPON.

2 Cor 10:2-6
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. – NIV

I encourage you to revisit your prayer time. Reflect on God’s promises above and the potential hindrances to prayer. Why should we pray? A better question is: why wouldn’t we?

Blessings,
Darren