WHAT WOULD MOTIVATE US TO PRAY?

Have you ever wondered why it is that one of the strongest doctrines of the Living God--that of being invited by God to pray--is so greatly ignored?  I don't mean that it is neglected by a few who seem to be unattentive to Bible ways; but rather, I include of leaders as myself.  Why is it that prayer was pushed out of our churches--so to speak--long before it was eliminated from our public schools?

I'm going to give this a shot.  You use what you deem valuable.

It seems that the more we gain confidence in our way of spirituality (our way of believing, our way of serving, our way of controlling) the less one prays.  Why would this be true?  I think that, for we Americans, much of the abandonment of prayer is because we pride ourselves in self-sufficiency and then we bring such to the church table.  Seeking has been replaced by directing.  Learning has taken a back seat to giving correction.  In these very channels, prayer diminishes as self-assurance that we've got a grip on this develops.

Thus, we find that we are in a religion---believing it to be the true one, no less---where our dependency is on our personal assessments and achievements all-the-while losing many of our children.  We are left scratching our heads as to why they find church to be unalive; never suspecting ourselves who neglect/avoid prayer as the cause.

Did we learn to pray because we were found empty of anything we could contribute from our Christian wellspring?  Many don't because we have stocked our believing shelves by believing that we are among those who believe right.  Why would "standing for Truth" while being engaged in very little prayer come off as godly?  We believe that we believe correctly which includes little or no prayer?  Yes....that is the sort of self-rightness that will not, cannot, bear the fruit from the Spirit.

To be up front, even as a beginning minister, I did not like to pray...and I did not pray.  It was boring; plus it took up time that I would rather spend elsewhere.  But then God placed me in a setting where I was in far over my head.  The work was too big and I was far too small.  The only thing left for me was to talk with Him as if He were on staff of sorts....for He is.

As you and I gain momentum in prayer, the weird, the unusual, the unpredictable will take place because prayer means that we relinquish control which has seemed to be a quite demanding human necessity.  May we make progress in applying ourselves less and depending upon Him more.  Such a move will create an open door for meaningful, useful, prayer.

Be blessed.  He runs the show.