DO YOU PRAY, OR DO YOU SIMPLY SAY PRAYERS? This question has been extremely convicting to me. One of the reasons this is so convicting to me is because of what Christians in the past have said about prayer. When I read their words, I realize that my prayer life falls very short.

“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”
– Martin Luther

Luther compared prayer to breathing. How long can you go without breathing?
Do we think prayer is as vital as breathing?

“Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.”
– E.M. Bounds

Do we delight in prayer? Is it something we look forward to? People look forward to things they take pleasure in. So, if you don’t look forward to prayer, perhaps it’s because you don’t take pleasure in it. Prayer should be a delight for us because we are spending time at the feet of our LORD.

“The great thing in prayer is to feel that we are putting our supplications into the bosom of omnipotent love.”
– Andrew Murray

In other words, prayer is placing your burdens in the arms of the all powerful loving God. Have you ever thought about prayer in that way before?

“The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day.”
― E.M. Bounds

I think one could consider morning prayer as a type of firstfruits offering. Offering God the first part of our day. I know when I start my day in prayer, it sets the tone for the rest of the day. I don’t feel as stressed. I don’t feel as rushed, and I feel more peace throughout the day. But when I don’t start my day in prayer, the opposite seems true. I get more easily agitated, more stressed, more rushed, and less peace.

These men made prayer a high priority in their life. Unfortunately, today most believers place higher priority on knowledge than in spending time with the LORD in prayer.

All of the great men of the Bible were men of prayer. Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, and the apostles were all men of prayer. This convicts me because I think to myself, “can that be said of me?” Am I a man of prayer? Prayer is often coupled with fasting because we need to understand that prayer is more vital to our life than food. Are we hungry and thirsty for more of God? It’s a tragic thing to be satisfied with your current spiritual condition. Being stale, stagnate, and satisfied with yourself.

Yeshua said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer”, which means our primary focus should be prayer. Prayer is where we meet with God

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”
– Matthew 6:6-8

Our prayer time should be like Moses speaking to God in the tabernacle of meeting.  We need to set aside time and place for prayer every day.

I have a confession to make. The primary way I know God is through reading the Bible. The primary way I hear His voice is through reading the Bible. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not enough. I want to know Him in prayer. I want to meet with Him the way Moses did. Moses didn’t read about God in the Bible, Moses spoke with God face to face.

If I asked you to describe your prayer life to me, what would you say? Do you get up at 4:00 in the morning like John Wesley and pray for 2-3 hours a day? I admit that I fall short in this area, which is why this question is so convicting to me.

“DO YOU PRAY, OR ARE YOU SIMPLY SAYING PRAYERS?”

Prayer is not easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is easy. We work hard at school to get a degree. We work hard at our job to get a raise or promotion. We even work hard in our garden. We work hard at everything we want to be good at, but do we work hard at prayer.

When it’s hard to get up in the morning to pray, do we do the hard thing and get up, or do we hit the snooze button? We get up early for things we value or see as a necessity. For example, we get up early for school, we get up early for work, we even get up early to go hunting or fishing. But when it comes to spending time with God in prayer, do we get up early to meet with Him?

DO YOU PRAY, OR ARE YOU SIMPLY SAYING PRAYERS?

There’s a difference. We get in the habit of saying our prayers. We say our prayers before meals, and we say our prayers before bed. This type of prayer is often formulaic and predictable. We are saying prayers, but are we really praying? The Bible says to pray earnestly and to be vigilant in it.

“Continue EARNESTLY IN PRAYER, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving”
– Colossians 4:2

Is there any reason, situation, problem, or circumstance that we shouldn’t pray about? The Bible tells us to pray about everything.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”
– Philippians 4:6

We have so many reasons to pray.  Don’t neglect spending time with the LORD in prayer. Make it a priority.