There are many reasons people choose not to pray. Today I’m going to share a few of them with you.
a. The Fear Of Disappointment.
Have you ever brought a need to God and felt like He didn’t do what you wanted Him to do? Or even worse, have you felt that He hadn’t even heard your prayer? If that is the case, you’re not alone. But ….
God has never promised to answer our prayers the way we want Him to, but as we spend more time with God by praying and reading the Bible, we will develop trust in Him. This trust guards our hearts during those times when we feel we are being let down by God (although this is not really the case), or even angry with Him.
God is always willing to listen to us no matter how we feel about Him. If we realize this feeling is there in our hearts, try reading Psalm 13 to discover what honest conversations with God sound like.
b. Unsure Of Praying “The Right Way.”
Do you ever try to pray but struggle with the feeling that you’re doing something wrong? Sometimes we may feel as though we aren’t connected to God as well as we want to be, or perhaps we just struggle with distraction. Some people feel they don’t know how to pray or that the way they pray is not the correct way to do it.
Even the Apostles, the twelve men who spent three years with Jesus, His disciples, had to ask Him to teach them how to pray. He answered by giving them a simple prayer that also serves as an example for our prayers. People all over have continued to use “the Lord’s prayer” found in Matthew 6:9-13.
If you need a little boost in your prayer life, try praying the Scriptures, using what it says in your prayer time. This can to help us develop the habit of praying regularly and to refresh our time with God.
c. Their Personal Pride.
There’s no getting around the fact that sometimes we just want to do things, our own way, and in our own strength rather than relying on God. Humans have a natural inclination to be prideful, wanting the credit for making things happen in their lives.
When pride is involved, it can feel like we are being passive about something important; asking God to act while we should be doing something ourselves.. This feeling is a wrong perspective.
Prayer is about expressing our dependence on God’s Holy Spirit to live the way God wants us to live. Jesus warned His disciples about trying to do things in their own strength.
John 15:5-7 (ESV) says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
Prayer is one of the most active things we can do as a Christian. It demonstrates that we are deciding to rely on God’s strength and not our own. It also demonstrates our willingness to give Him all the credit when our prayers are answered.
Our enemy, the devil, wants us to try to live in our own strength because he knows we will inevitably experience more failure that way. He knows those failures lead to disappointment that can turn into resentment toward God. His purpose is to break down our connection with God by whatever means possible. Exploiting our pride is one of his favorite tactics.
The reasons people neglect or avoid prayer are understandable. Everyone experiences times when praying feels like too much hard work without any obvious reward. But if we want our relationship with God to grow deeper over time, we need to communicate with Him regularly.
There are no rules about how many times each day or each week we need to pray if we want to see God respond. The more we bring God into the situations in our lives, the more we will understand that He will respond to us. This is true of a friend or a spouse, and it’s true of God our Father.
God wants us to know Him in a way that transforms every aspect of who we are. Prayer is one of the ways He chooses to make that happen. Matthew 7:7 (ESV), “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Blessings and Stay Safe,
Pastor Chuck
a. The Fear Of Disappointment.
Have you ever brought a need to God and felt like He didn’t do what you wanted Him to do? Or even worse, have you felt that He hadn’t even heard your prayer? If that is the case, you’re not alone. But ….
God has never promised to answer our prayers the way we want Him to, but as we spend more time with God by praying and reading the Bible, we will develop trust in Him. This trust guards our hearts during those times when we feel we are being let down by God (although this is not really the case), or even angry with Him.
God is always willing to listen to us no matter how we feel about Him. If we realize this feeling is there in our hearts, try reading Psalm 13 to discover what honest conversations with God sound like.
b. Unsure Of Praying “The Right Way.”
Do you ever try to pray but struggle with the feeling that you’re doing something wrong? Sometimes we may feel as though we aren’t connected to God as well as we want to be, or perhaps we just struggle with distraction. Some people feel they don’t know how to pray or that the way they pray is not the correct way to do it.
Even the Apostles, the twelve men who spent three years with Jesus, His disciples, had to ask Him to teach them how to pray. He answered by giving them a simple prayer that also serves as an example for our prayers. People all over have continued to use “the Lord’s prayer” found in Matthew 6:9-13.
If you need a little boost in your prayer life, try praying the Scriptures, using what it says in your prayer time. This can to help us develop the habit of praying regularly and to refresh our time with God.
c. Their Personal Pride.
There’s no getting around the fact that sometimes we just want to do things, our own way, and in our own strength rather than relying on God. Humans have a natural inclination to be prideful, wanting the credit for making things happen in their lives.
When pride is involved, it can feel like we are being passive about something important; asking God to act while we should be doing something ourselves.. This feeling is a wrong perspective.
Prayer is about expressing our dependence on God’s Holy Spirit to live the way God wants us to live. Jesus warned His disciples about trying to do things in their own strength.
John 15:5-7 (ESV) says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
Prayer is one of the most active things we can do as a Christian. It demonstrates that we are deciding to rely on God’s strength and not our own. It also demonstrates our willingness to give Him all the credit when our prayers are answered.
Our enemy, the devil, wants us to try to live in our own strength because he knows we will inevitably experience more failure that way. He knows those failures lead to disappointment that can turn into resentment toward God. His purpose is to break down our connection with God by whatever means possible. Exploiting our pride is one of his favorite tactics.
The reasons people neglect or avoid prayer are understandable. Everyone experiences times when praying feels like too much hard work without any obvious reward. But if we want our relationship with God to grow deeper over time, we need to communicate with Him regularly.
There are no rules about how many times each day or each week we need to pray if we want to see God respond. The more we bring God into the situations in our lives, the more we will understand that He will respond to us. This is true of a friend or a spouse, and it’s true of God our Father.
God wants us to know Him in a way that transforms every aspect of who we are. Prayer is one of the ways He chooses to make that happen. Matthew 7:7 (ESV), “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Blessings and Stay Safe,
Pastor Chuck
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