A few years ago, LifeWay Christian Resources surveyed more than 1,300 evangelical leaders from around the world and asked what they perceived to be the “Top 10 Issues Facing Today’s Church.”
What was #1? Prayer. The need for more ongoing, passionate prayer in both personal and church life.
It seems odd, doesn’t it? Prayer is, after all, what Christians do.
Don’t they?
According to a 2014 survey by Pew Research Center, 55% of Americans say they pray every day, and 45% say they “rely a lot on prayer.”
Although there are many reasons for prayer deficiency, consider these three:
We don’t think about what it actually is.
- Chatting with God?
- Asking for things?
- Trying to change God’s mind?
Prayer, stripped to a simple definition, is cooperating with God to release His power on earth. That cooperation occurs when we give Him our undivided attention. For a period of time. Every day.
We don’t have (take, make, set aside) time, daily.
“It’s impossible!” you protest vigorously. “I have a busy life and a lot of responsibilities! And, by the way, some of them are church responsibilities.”
Well, okay. But then there’s Matthew 6:33: “Seek the kingdom of God. First.” You’ll notice there are no exceptions.
I remember the struggle when I had a 3-year-old and newborn twins, then a 5-year-old and 2-year-old twins, then. . . you get the idea. It was tempting to just do another load of laundry – or scrub something. But what I received in those hard-won, sometimes small, blocks of time deeply impacted the rest of my busy life.
Fact is, when you pray is up to you. 
- Early in the day might work best
- or lunchtime
- or kids naptime
- or later in the evening.
How long is up to you, too. That you do it should be non-negotiable. Giving Him undivided attention. For a period of time. Every day.
We are distracted.
No wonder. Americans spend an average of 4.7 hours per day on their phones. And the highest usage is not by teenagers – it’s adults between the ages of 25 and 54.
The universe of technologies is here to stay, obviously, and everyone is reckoning with the time-spent factor.
A corollary to this contemporary dilemma is the effect on concentration. For example, we can now breeze through our YouVersion Bible app, then pray on the move. While these are certainly good tools, something else, something valuable and precious, may be sacrificed.
Real time. With God. Every day.
In her excellent study, Live a Praying Life, Jennifer Kennedy Dean says that God “searches out an intercessor [or pray-er] upon whose heart He can place His own desires.”
As the kids prepare to return to school, we have the great privilege and responsibility of praying the desires of God’s heart over them as well.
Beyond the guilt-tripping and know-I-shoulds is a supernatural realm of communion. God loves us and longs to take these short, ordinary lives we lead and do extraordinary, eternal things with them.
His method of choice is prayer. Real time. With Him. Every day.
If you are struggling with daily prayer, what changes could you make in your life today?