The Hindrance Of Prayerlessness

The Hindrance of Prayerlessness

Far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. 1 Samuel 12:23, ESV

IT OUGHT TO GO WITHOUT SAYING: The most common hindrance to prayer is not praying. Yet as obvious as this seems, many believers assume that their desires have served as prayers and that unfulfilled desires constitute unanswered prayer. We can safely assume that unprayed prayers are guaranteed to remain unanswered, and prayed prayers are far more likely to be fulfilled. Even so, we often lament the unspoken—and therefore unanswered—pleas of our hearts.

Samuel considered prayerlessness a sin. He served as a prophet and priest, so his conviction is understandable. But in an age when every believer stands in Christ as a priest between heaven and earth, Samuel’s words are pointed and profound. Our role as priests is to intercede between God and humanity, and our primary means of intercession is prayer. So what happens when we don’t pray? Nothing. We miss an opportunity to connect heaven and earth with our requests. We let God’s desires for his people and a world in need fall to the ground.

Think of the magnitude of this missed opportunity. On the one hand, we have the world’s gaping needs, many of them staring us in the face in the lives and circumstances around us. On the other hand, we have God’s extravagant promises, unfathomable mercy, and zealous desire to rescue the world with his love. What can bridge this gap? Jesus came to make a way; then he sent his followers into the world on his mission of reconciliation. That means that each believer stands between two realms with the authority, opportunity, and relationship necessary to invite the grace of God into the hearts, minds, circumstances, situations, communities, organizations, and systems we encounter. Meanwhile, we watch, criticize, lament, shake our heads, and walk away. Our moments of intercession fall away unfulfilled.

Refuse to miss those opportunities. Take up the calling to pray, intercede, plead, confess, and invite God’s limitless provision into this world. Voice the requests of empty, wounded hearts and let God fill them with his love.

Do not let us fail one another in interest, care, and practical help; but supremely we must not fail one another in prayer.