Practical Reasons Why Christians Fail To Pray
Understanding the Struggles Behind Christians' Irregular Prayer Habits
In my informal surveys of Christian-dom in America, it appears that many Christians do not actually spend much time in regular prayer. It is only an expected activity before Bible study time, or at the dinner table, or when something bad happens.
Are there reasons to not pray? And what might those be?
There could be several reasons why Christians do not pray with consistency. Believe me, each of these have been struggles of my own over the years. As we take a short look at these, see if you spot any of your reasons.
A Lack of understanding
Some Christians may not understand the importance and power of prayer, which can lead us to neglect it in their daily lives. This is due to poor quality or infrequent teaching about prayer by the Church. Who has a Sunday School class on intercession?
A Lack of discipline
Developing a regular prayer life requires discipline and commitment. Some Christians may struggle with this aspect, leading to inconsistent or infrequent prayer. Starting to pray with intent and purpose can mean
having a desire to pray more
having a time, a place, a list is helpful
partnering with others
Lack of faith, or Doubt
Even Christians struggle with doubt or a lack of faith, and that leads us to question the effectiveness of prayer. This can result in a diminished commitment to prayer. Not knowing how to pray well can result in seeming unanswered prayers, which can cause doubt.
Spiritual dryness
We can experience periods of spiritual dryness, which is feeling disconnected from God. These times we find it difficult to pray. It does seem easier to pray when God feels near, but prayer isn’t a feeling. This, in fact, is when you most need to pray!
Discomfort with vulnerability
True prayer often involves vulnerability and openness before God, and being humble, which can be uncomfortable for some Christians. Prayer is a perfect time to be honest with yourself, and with the Lord. At first, this discomfort may lead you to avoid regular prayer out of feelings of guilt or shame.
Learned Legalism
Some churches may have taught a rigid or legalistic approach to prayer. This can lead to a negative association with prayer and a reluctance to engage in it regularly. Most of us avoid things that are unpleasant, and a past where you were made to pray has turned you off to praying now.
Busyness
We all lead busy lives, with work, family, and other responsibilities taking up much of our time. As a result, we may struggle to find time for regular prayer. When activity or recreation or entertainment get more time a week than Bible reading and prayer, then our priorities need to be examined.
Distractions
We live in an extremely fast-paced world, and numerous distractions make it difficult for Christians to focus on prayer. Social media, technology, and other forms of entertainment all compete for our attention. Face it, isn’t scrolling and scrolling through your feed easier than to pray?
Pride
Over-confidence in oneself can lead people--even Christians, to not pray. They don’t think they need to! After all, God won’t give me anything He knows I can’t handle, they say. Which isn’t true at all! Everything is too big, too tough, too complicated for us to handle on our own. This is by His design so we do come to Him.
This is thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought, and not highly enough of Jesus, as we should.
And finally,
Do Not Believe In Jesus
These are non-Christians, people who do not call Him as Lord and Savior. The reason they do not pray is they don’t even know they should. These are people who will say things like, “If you can hear me, God.” or “I’m not sure you are listening, but…” or “If you get me out of this, I’ll never___again.”
As you can see, there are several reasons why Christians do not regularly pray. Some are more excuses than actual reasons. But, recognizing these potential obstacles can help Christians first address them, and then develop a more consistent and meaningful prayer life.
Look back over the list and see if you spot any reasons that apply to yourself. Can you think of any others I missed? Then write one or two things that need your attention. Finally, ask the Lord what the disciples did in Luke 11, “Lord, teach me to pray.”
And For Further Reading
Thank you for reading Epaphras Prays, a ministry of intercessors for the people of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Our intent is to pray—and to teach others to pray, Biblical prayers. We all desperately need to be praying more, and yet we do not sense an urgency among believers to do so. Help us reach out with our newsletter to invite and encourage others to their prayer closet.
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Until next time, grace and peace…
Image by Daniel Mena from Pixabay