A Friendly Reminder about Prayer

This may be the most unoriginal article you’ll read this week, but it’s about something we forget too often. I’m talking about prayer. We use the word prayer in our culture quite often. Even non-believers say things like “you’re in our prayers” or “let’s lift up a prayer” for a person or situation. And we all know that prayer is good. We hear about prayer all the time in sermons and Bible studies and small group discussions. Every Christian knows that prayer is a central part of the Christian life and that they ought to be praying on a daily basis.

But do we really pray? And do we pray about things that matter?

I was recently reminded of this issue while talking with a friend. He is a faithful follower of Christ and a devoted servant of the church. This friend has prayed for big things in his life and has seen God move in powerful ways. Recently, we were talking about some hurdles he was facing involving some unbelieving immediate family members. He was sharing about how hard it was to have meaningful conversations with them and to get them to open up about their lives.

I asked him, “Have you prayed about it?”

For a moment, he looked confused. He blinked a few times and, almost as though waking from a daydream, he said, “Well, actually, no.” The expression on his face made it clear that he realized how obvious the solution was, and he was confused as to why he hadn’t thought of it before.

“Prayer opens up possibilities that didn't exist before.”

This moment of simple realization led to a brief but fruitful conversation about how prayer opens up possibilities that didn’t exist before. We spoke about how God can soften and open a person’s heart through prayer, so that they suddenly become interested in talking about something they previously showed no interest in talking about. Through prayer, the most distant, obstinate, or even hostile individual can suddenly become genuinely curious and even desperate to know about God. How does this happen? Because it’s God’s power that works through prayer, not ours.

The Obvious, Not-So-Obvious Question

Like my friend, we all have blind spots when it comes to prayer. There are certain things and certain areas in our lives that are obvious topics of prayer, but there are other areas that are not so obvious. Because of our weak, fleshly nature, it’s easy for us to pray about things our flesh craves, such as money, health, love, and success. Less obvious are the deeper, spiritual aspects of life, like holiness, Christ-like character, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, and evangelism. These are areas that Christians commonly have to “grow into” in their prayer lives, and these are the areas where we are most likely to have blind spots.

When we pray only about the obvious surface issues, and neglect the deeper spiritual ones, over time, we develop a spiritual restlessness, a kind of hunger in our souls. This void often manifests itself through statements such as “I don’t hear God speaking to me” or “I don’t sense God’s presence in my life.” As a pastor, the first thing I ask someone who shares these concerns is, “Have you been reading God’s Word?” After all, no one can truly say that God doesn’t speak to them when God speaks to us clearly and unceasingly in Scripture.

“When we pray only about the obvious surface issues, and neglect the deeper spiritual ones, over time, we develop a spiritual restlessness.”

But the second question that I ask is, “Have you prayed about it?” And again, many times, people blink in astonishment, not realizing that praying about a lack of a sense of God’s presence, or the inability to hear His voice, is something that one can pray about. And sadly, even though many people suffer from these types of spiritual maladies, very few actually pray about them.

Perhaps the most common blind spot for prayer is relational problems. For reasons that I still don’t understand, when we experience a conflict with someone, the last thing we think about is praying about the problem—or the person, for that matter. We brood and examine and question and analyze the situation in our minds ad nauseum, but we don’t often pray about it. We like to formulate our own plans, or prepare our own come-backs and witty replies meant to put the other person in their place, but we rarely give the problem to the Lord and ask Him to take care of it.

Expanding the Scope of Prayer

I am well-aware that what I am writing here is painfully obvious. We should pray about every problem and issue in our lives. But the fact that it’s obvious only makes this reminder even more relevant. We all know it, but we all struggle with it. We are too busy, too distracted, too immature, or too lazy to pray as we should. Even pastors struggle with prayer. According to one poll by Christianity Today, half of all Protestant pastors spend only one to six hours a week in prayer, and five percent even say they spend no time in prayer.

“We are too busy, too distracted, too immature, or too lazy to pray as we should.”

It comes down to this: the more we pray, the more of God’s presence and power will be at work in our lives. The less we pray, the less of God’s presence and power we will have in our lives. One helpful way to increase the amount of prayer in our lives is to cover more aspects of our lives. Don’t just pray about the obvious things like finances, school, career, and health issues. Pray about the deeper things, subtle things, things that gnaw away at your soul, or things that you have come to accept will always be with you.

“It comes down to this: the more we pray, the more of God’s presence and power will be at work in our lives.”

That lost opportunity from years ago that still sends pangs of regret into your heart whenever you think about it. Have you prayed about it?

That bully who hurt you a long time ago, but you still want to see something bad happen to her, and that disturbs you. Have you prayed about it?

Those words that were spoken to you that ruined yourself-esteem and made you dislike yourself? Have you prayed about it?

The brokenness in your family that you were born into and seems so entrenched in your reality that you don’t think it can ever change, and you’ve stopped even hoping for it. Have you prayed about it?

There is nothing too big or too small to pray about. God cares about it all and is willing and able to help you with it all. So let this friendly reminder about prayer sink in and move you to your knees. We all need to spend a lot more time there.