Why We Don't Pray More Often

Why We Don’t Pray More Often

“Pray without ceasing …” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

At 57 I still do battle with my prayer life. I am thankful that right now God has been doing something in my life that has been focusing more on prayer. Sometimes because we find ourselves at the end of our self, at the point of desperation for Him and what He can do. That’s not a bad place to be.

Dr. Jim George in his book The Man Who Makes a Difference – 10 Keys to a Life of Impact (Harvest House) shares nine reasons why we don’t pray more often …

1. Wordliness  -- so caught up in the world that prayer doesn’t show up on the radar screen.
2. Busyness – my agenda is so full that I have crowded Him out.
3. Faithlessness – I have bought into the lie that He really doesn’t hear MY prayers.
4. Distance (from God) – my sin has caused me not to enter HIS presence.
5. Ignorance – I don’t connect what the Word says about prayer in my life.
6. Sinfulness – “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear…” Psalm 66:18
7. Pridefulness – “The self-sufficient do not pray, the self-satisfied will not pray, the self-righteous cannot pray!”
8. Inexperience – The more we pray, the more we see Him answer and working our lives – the more we will desire to pray.
9. Laziness

You aren’t dumb – I don’t need to flesh those 9 points out for you. Can you identify with any of the nine in your life that are keeping you from doing what Paul commanded us to do – Pray without ceasing? If so, repent and come to the throne of grace where He is ready to meet you! – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Isaiah 44-48; Psalm 14; Proverbs 15

Compass Pointers: He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life. William Law

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 28:9; Level 2: Proverbs 28:6-10

Anchored to the Rock: Prayer is the breath of a new-born soul, and there can be no Christian life without it. Rowland Hill