PRAYER: THE LACK OF IT

By Kemi Adesola

Reference Texts: 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Genesis 3, Ps 5:3, Ps 145: 18, James 5:16, Ephesians 6:19, Col 4:3, Romans 8:26-27, Matt 6:10, Heb 12:2

INTRODUCTION

When we cease to pray, our troubles become even bigger mentally and physically, especially when our own solutions fail and weariness steps in. Hopelessness becomes unavoidable without prayer because only God can solve our issues the perfect way in our best interest.
If there was ever a time when Peter, James, and John needed to remain awake and pray it was in Gethsemane. If James had persisted in keeping awake it might have saved his decapitation a few years later. If Peter had stirred himself to really intercede for himself and others, he would not have denied his Christ that night in the palace of Caiaphas.

Conditions a Prayerless Life Reveals

  • Prayerlessness reveals that a man is more convinced of his own abilities than his need for the presence and power of God. John 15:5.
  • Prayerlessness reveals that a man’s desires may be carnal rather than spiritual, even if they are religious. 1 John 5:14–15
  • Prayerlessness reveals that a man has become so accustomed to God’s blessing that he has become complacent in asking God for
  • His continued blessing. Psalm 103:1–2
  • Prayerlessness reveals that a man has become so self-sufficient that he no longer feels obligated to offer God thanksgiving for His present help. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
  • Prayerlessness reveals that a man has lost the wonder of God’s grace and no longer feels compelled to praise Him.

The Damage Prayerlessness Can Cause

  • Sin
  • Attack from the devil
  • Depression
  • Loss of loved one

Fighting Prayerlessness

  • Recall God’s past grace: Remembering how God has been faithful to you in the past can help our faith engine to trust in God’s future grace for whatever is causing my current unbelief. (Lamentations 3:21)
  • Find the leak: Look for fears, doubts, indulgent sinful habits, unresolved anger, bitterness, disappointment, etc. Often these don’t take long to find. But sometimes they are tricky because something has tapped into a buried past experience that is still muddled in our mind.
  • Repent of unbelief: A lack of faith is sin. It’s dishonoring to God whose every word is true (Proverbs 30:5). We must repent of unbelief. But God loves to help our unbelief (Mark 9:24) turn into belief.
  • Fuel your faith engine with promises: God’s promises are the fuel that fires the engine of faith to kick start our prayer life. Get your eyes off the focus of your unbelief and get them on the promises that God wants us to believe instead.
  • Seek counseling: prayerlessness is something serious and we must treat it as such. Sometimes it takes asking the right question with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to reveal the root cause of our prayerlessness.

CONCLUSION

Every day of our lives ought to find us in prayer, praising the Lord of
our salvation! May each of us examine our prayer lives; and if it is
not as it should be, we need to root out one of these and perhaps a
myriad of other conditions that have brought us to that sad and
dangerous place. God would be delighted to hear from you again!

Reference: http://Gotquestions.org

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