Why Don't We Pray???

Why don't we Christians pray as often or as deeply as we should? The Bible commands it, we need it and God expects it, but we just don't do it, or we do it intermittently and shallowly. Why is that? What is it that stands in the way of this privilege we have been given to approach God's throne and speak to the King? Do we understand really what it is that we lose when we don't seek out our Lord in prayer? Prayer can loose supernatural power in our lives and the lives of others that is not available to those outside the Church. We miss out on so much when we do not pray. It is akin to leaving something on the table that is ours by right of inheritance. We are the King's family. He has cleared the way for us to draw near, but we back away from him in fear or intimidation and I have to wonder why that is.

We have begun to explore this issue at my local church and I am looking forward to it. I don't think my pastor needs my help or opinions about such things, but that never seems to stop me from meddling in the affairs of my betters ...perhaps I should pray about this before publication :) but I digress...

From my perspective, there are at least four reasons I can cite for why I have let my prayer privilege slip away from me in the past. Let's see how my list measures up with yours.

Reason One on my list may be unique to me and a few select others. To put it bluntly, I have "Daddy Issues". I know in our world that can mean many things, but here is what I'm getting at. Whether we know it or not, our relationship with our earthly fathers has a grave and deep bearing on how we relate to our heavenly father, most especially if we grow up in a Christian home. If Dad is a bully or a week leader or aloof in his parenting or outright abusive, some of us begin to apply these negative attributes to God. In life, if our Dad is bent in some way, we might begin to see God in the same way and develop a fear of pursuing Him. The truth of it, though, is way different. God is not like our earthly fathers. Any reason we might have to fear Him has been taken away by His Son in His sacrifice for us. God is free to love us and we are free to love Him and rest in His power to heal us and build us up for our benefit and His purposes. This kind of love casts out fear. Prayer is integral to this process. more about that in a second...

Reason Two is inter-meshed with Reason One. If our experience with love at home is conditioned on behavior, we may come to view God's love through that same lens. The fact is that God's love is not conditional. His love for us is eternal. He knew who we would be from before the time of creation itself and He loved us anyway and made plans to save us from ourselves and His enemies. He loves us with such a reckless, raging fury that He was willing to allow His Own perfect Son to take our punishment for our behavior issues so that we can draw near to Him through prayer and faith. As long as we have even a shred of faith, our heavenly Father will do almost anything to make sure we live with Him forever. Again, the pursuit of prayer can allow us to connect with His power.

Reason Three has much to do with Reason Two. Conditional love at Church works in the same way it does at home. We feel rejected by our Church family when our lives do not meet the standards expected by our brothers and sisters in Christ. This inevitably leads to lack of transparency and pushes us away from both God and His Church. Legalism is not good. It does not change lives. It does not help us to draw near to God and seek his grace and support through prayer so that we develop the faith to stand. It can create a bitter, fear engendered reaction to the One that loves us the most, and so we slip away and we never really get to know Him as we should.

Reason Four is sin. Our behavior and all the things above can combine to work an evil in our lives that makes us question God's love and the love of our family and our church brethren. If we think God's love for us is conditional or that we are too weak to meet the behavior standards of family and church, Satan will eventually convince us of our uselessness and we will withdraw in defeat from prayer, from God and finally from His people.

Satan is not as stupid as you might think, but he can be defeated at his own game with some spiritual reeducation that can turn us all back into prayer warriors and God's Church into His right arm.
We have to drop our notions of conditional love and we have to realize the power of God's unconditional love for us. When we can finally do that, when we finally grasp this love that seems so out of reach, then we can do something about our relationship with Him and with others. That's why this next thing is so hard. We have to submit to the power of this love regardless of our current spiritual state. Submission is tough. Submission is not natural for us. Giving up control scares us. Even so, it's what's really required and there is only one way to do this.

Pray.

Pray with joy, with thanks, with pain, with concern, with intent, with faith, with repentance and His Spirit will intercede for us and take our concerns to Him who has the endless supply of grace needed to help turn our lives around, remaking us according to His will. Throw yourself on His altar and burn away all your preconceived notions and hangups and sins, then you can finally begin to live a victorious life.  You will notice the change.

By the way...this is not a 'once and done' type thing. It's a lifelong adventure. There will be storms and deserts and earthquakes in your life. There will be temptation. You will fail. You will sometimes feel empty or devoid of anything spiritual. Spiritual trouble will abound. Take up your faith and pray anyway as you move forward. Approach the Throne of Grace with persistence, like your life depended on it, because it does. And every day that you wake up alive, rededicate yourself again to Jesus Christ. Keep your eyes on the prize. Remember, the Author and Perfecter of your faith is perfecting you and it might hurt. Probably will. That's how much He loves us.

One more thing for extra credit. Try writing a letter to God. This process can loosen you up for real and intense prayer. In your letter, vent your frustrations, make your requests, confess your sins, express your sorrows, repent, rededicate and submit to His power. Then pray the letter. Do it as many times as it takes. Later, maybe the week after, write a letter to yourself from God, remembering what you now know of His unconditional, reckless raging love and His unlimited grace. Then begin your pursuit of Him in earnest.

Whatever you do...just pray...leave the line open...lean on Him. He won't mind.