Thoughts on Prayer

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” – James 5:16

One of the areas of my own personal walk with God in which I feel the most concerned and convicted is my prayer life – or, I should say, my lack of a consistent prayer life. My own relative prayerlessness was illustrated to me not too long ago in my accounting class. The teacher asked each student in the class to share, very briefly, how they go about making decisions. I said that I think long and hard about my decisions and carefully consider whether each alternative is right or wrong. As I later considered my own answer, I noticed that I did not say that I pray about each decision I make (as well as that in my answer I could have been a better witness for the Lord).
At the church I used to attend, we used to have a time for prayer requests and testimonies about answered prayer. I would often write down the requests and “praise reports”, but I was often convicted that during the week I did not spend much time, if any, before the Lord concerning them.
I believe there are many reasons for a lack of prayer. One of them is that I often go about my business each day with my eyes only on the things I can see – not on the invisible, but just as real, spiritual realm. I believe I can figure out things for myself, or that they will just “work out as the Lord would have them work out”.
It’s not that I don’t acknowledge the Lord at all. Often I will whisper a brief prayer for wisdom or help before something fairly important. But I believe the Lord wants to hear so much more often from us than that. James 5:16, the verse at the beginning of this article, speaks of “fervent prayer” – prayer that is enthusiastic, deeply felt, earnest, serious, sincere, and pleading. It reminds me of the time I read and was convicted by something written by a saint of long ago (I have forgotten exactly what it was), and it asked something like, “When was the last time you wrestled all night before God about something?” I must confess that my prayer life is not nearly that fervent.
If Jesus knew the need to withdraw to a place by Himself and pray there all night before His Father, how much more should we need a deep, thriving prayer life? And how often I miss out on cultivating such a prayer life! It sometimes pains me to think that I am a child of God, for whom He gave His only Son and to whom He bestows every imaginable spiritual blessing (besides countless physical blessings), and yet my Heavenly Father misses the time He longs for me to spend with Him in prayer. How that must disappoint Him!
Our verse assures us that such earnest prayer is not a meaningless exercise in religion. It is “effectual” and “availeth much”, which means it works. Our Father stands ready to work on behalf of those who are His. 2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us that “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him”. And this was said to King Asa, who relied on his army for victory and did not seek the Lord beforehand. When the Lord looks for someone whose heart is right before Him, how it must delight Him when He sees one of His own on his or her knees before Him! I believe that God is always at work in countless different ways in our lives; but how much more might He like to work, if only His children seek Him for it?
There are many things to pray for. There are many cares, worries, stresses, and problems that each of us carry from day to day; we must, in prayer, cast our burdens on the Lord, for He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). There are many brothers and sisters in Christ who also have various problems and concerns, and we are commanded to pray for one another in the first part of our main verse. There is the persecuted church throughout the world, and Hebrews 13:3 reminds us to remember those believers as if we were in their shoes. There are world leaders and world crises to remember before the throne of God, and we must always pray for revival, for there are countless souls who have yet to come to faith in Christ. There is no shortage of things to praise and thank our God for in prayer.
It is not for lack of things to pray for that we do not pray. It is because we do not make time to pray. Prayer is hard work. It is hard to pray when we do not see the answers to our prayers, and there are multiple distractions in the physical world around us. Our enemy Satan does not want us to pray and will often do whatever he can to stop us from praying. Yet we are told to always be in a spirit of prayer. This may be as simple as talking with the Lord in brief moments as we go about the day; or it may be as deep as finding some place apart from the hustle and bustle in which to spend as much time as we need to before God’s throne.
A deeper prayer life will not be found in a formula or in special words to recite. The only way to cultivate it is to do it, and to keep doing it. Prayer is one of the most effective tools God has given us to use while on this earth. By it we have free access to the God of the universe, and to all that He has to give us. He is listening and wants to spend quality time with each of us. Are we willing to make that effort to draw near to God, who promises that when we do so He will draw near to us? May this be an encouragement to all of us to “pray without ceasing.”