One of the easiest things to let slide is the ministry of prayer. After all, whilst everyone will see if I didn’t put enough prep into my sermon and most people will know if I didn’t show up to some outreach, nobody will notice if I don’t pray. At least, that’s what we are prone to think. I’m not convinced it is true. Our lack of a prayer life will begin to tell eventually. The truth is, we neglect prayer at our peril. Here are some reasons why we shouldn’t let it slide.
Prayer humbles us
Prayer, by its very nature, is us admitting there is at least some stuff we can’t do. And the more we pray, the more we take seriously Jesus words: without me, you can do nothing (John 15:5). The more we pray the more we acknowledge our reliance on the Lord in all things and our inability to do anything apart from him. And Jesus is quite clear that it is the humble who will be glorified whilst those who think themselves great shall be made nothing. Being humble is a key Christian characteristic and a vital sign that we are conforming in any way to the likeness of Christ. Being arrogant and full of pride, by contrast, is a characteristic that may well keep us out of the kingdom. We need to pray because otherwise we assume we can walk in our strength and may find that attitude causes us to fall. Prayer is our way of saying we cannot do anything without God.
Prayer mediates God’s blessings
We cannot avoid the words of James: ‘you do not have because you do not ask’ (James 4:2). This necessarily means there are things we would have, but we do not have, because we didn’t ask for them. Which tells me prayer is God’s means of mediating his blessing to his people. James 1:5 tells us God is waiting to give to his children liberally. He is waiting to bless us. James 4:2 tells us that he sometimes doesn’t bless us, even though he otherwise would, because we simply didn’t ask him to do so. We miss out on blessings we would otherwise receive when we do not pray.
Prayer conforms us to Christ
John 15:7 says this: ‘If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.’ These are the words of Jesus. If we are truly people of the Word, our will and desires will be changing according to the Word. And as our will and desires change according to the Word, we will begin to ask for things that align with the Word. Jesus is saying those of us who are truly being changed by him, who are hearing his Word and actively responding to it, will begin to ask him for the kind of things he wants to give us. It is those things we pray in accordance with his Word and will that will be done for us. So prayer helps to conform our thinking more closely to that of Jesus. Answered prayer is a sign that we are asking for what he wants to give us and that our desires are becoming his desires. Neglecting prayer will stop us asking God for what he wants to give us and will stop our minds and wills being more closely conformed to his.
Prayer changes things in the world
In Philippians 1:19, Paul says ‘I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance’. Paul is convinced that the prayers of the believers in Philippi will actually change things for him. Elsewhere Paul encourages Timothy to pray for everyone to come to know the truth of the gospel and be saved. He is convinced that such prayers actually change things in the world and change the minds of men. If that was true then, we can be assured our prayers change things in the world too. By grasping hold of prayer we can change things in the world and change the minds of men and women as well. If we want things to be different, if we want certain things to happen, prayer is our means of taking hold of the awesome privilege of actually changing the universe by petitioning the Almighty God who upholds it to work to that end.