Why Do You Pray?

Everyone who has ever taught on prayer gives us all the reasons to pray, and they give us all the different kinds of prayer.  They break prayer down into categories and teach us how to handle each area of prayer.  We have had teaching from every angle on kinds of prayer and types of prayer and ways to pray.  Yet many people are not seeing the results they desire.  What is the problem?

How can you talk to someone you don’t know very well?  How can you have communication with someone you don’t spend any time with?  How can you know whether that person even hears you, let alone does anything about what you request?  I believe the problem with unanswered prayer is a disconnect between the pray-er and the pray-ee.  We are ceremonially offering up words to a God we do not even take the time to know.  We want results and we want them now.

How would you feel if your friend or child or spouse treated you that way?  Maybe they do.  If they do, you know how you feel.  It goes like this.  They don’t even know me.  They don’t take the time to sit down and have a decent conversation with me, and when they do, it is because they want something.  Of course, we know that God does not act like we do, but He has set up certain principles and He does respond to those who love Him and care about Him.

Why do you pray?  When do you pray?  What do you say?  What are your motives?  What is your attitude?  What is the reason you are communicating with God?  Did you know that He has feelings.  Yes, He does.

Starting today, don’t be in such a hurry to bring the Lord your “honey do” list.  Go to a quiet place, shut yourself away with the Lord, sit still and tell Him how much you love Him, then be quiet, even if you only have 10 minutes that day.  Keep on doing it every day.  Be consistent.  Don’t give up.

Before long, you will be finding ways to carve out more time for this intimate fellowship.  You look forward to it.  It is your favorite time of day.  And then it comes to the point that there is actually a two-way conversation taking place.  You are talking to Him about your life and what you need and asking Him for His advice and His direction in taking care of the difficult situations in your life.  He will answer in various ways.  Don’t put Him in a box.  For example, the other day as I was sitting still with the Lord, I saw areas in my life that He wanted to cleanse of negative attitudes.  I yielded and He took care of them in a moment of time.  I felt such freedom when I left my place of prayer that day.

Take time every day for you and the Lord, just the two of you.  It may be while you are driving to work.  It may be when you first get up in the morning.  It may be on your lunch break.  It may be in the evening when all is quiet and everyone else is in bed.  Find that time and that place.  Make it a consistent time and place.  Jesus and the Father look forward to being with you.  They look forward to it as much as you do.

Remember that Jesus while He was on this earth set aside time to be alone with His Heavenly Father.  That is when He got His directions for His life.  That is when he spent intimate time with His Father and drew on His strength.  He fed on His Father’s love and goodness.  That is what sustained Him throughout His ministry life and throughout His personal time on the earth.

Jesus’ time that He had spent with His Father prepared Him for the cross and what He had to endure.  Even so, your personal time with the Lord prepares you for those times when the enemy is battling your soul and attempting to overcome you with his various lies and deception.  Because of Jesus, you overcome.