Why is praying so hard?

Have a concert and lots of people show up. They even show up for regular worship services but if you have a meeting devoted to prayer, I mean really praying, they won't come. Why is that? I think there can be a number of reasons why that is so.

One is that praying is hard work. It's hard to keep one's mind from wandering. It's hard to devote the time to talking to God. We are so busy. We often think of only manual labor as hard but labor of the mind and heart can be equally intensive.

The other reason we don't pray is that deep down we are not convinced that prayer really works. By this I mean that we are not convinced that God really answers our prayers with any consistency. He answers some request, he doesn't answer others and it seems that prayer doesn't make any difference. If I pray or don't pray, life will have positives and negatives.

I think early Christians had the same struggles. The reason I say that is because there are so many admonitions in the Bible to devote ourselves to prayer. If it were easy, or if we all knew experientially that prayer makes a huge difference, I don't think there would be a need to devote ourselves to prayer.

So praying takes commitment, consecration. It is something we do on purpose because we choose to, because we believe it's important. Prayer doesn't happen on accident unless you find yourself in dire straights-- then everyone prays!

Let me give you three motivations to help you choose prayer even when you don't really feel like praying. One is the obvious challenge of God's Word. Devote yourself to prayer. Paul on numerous ocassions says just that, "Devote yourself to prayer." You and I can not call ourselves obedient to the Scriptures unless we devote ourselves to prayer.

Second, the clear example of the early church. In Acts 1, before Pentecost, the Bible clearly says the early Christians were devoted to prayer. After Peter's and John's arrest they return to the group and they errupt into a prayer meeting where the Holy Spirit shakes the house. And when Peter is released after another imprisonment, he returns to the group to find them praying. They believed that praying was imperative. Why was that so? I believe because of the example of Jesus.

Jesus' example is our third motivation for praying. He did it. Hours at a time. He did it alone. He led the group. He prayed daily. He prayed while others slept. He chose prayer and he chose it often. If the Son of God prayed, should not we pray too? If it was priority to him, should it not be priority to us?

I don't understand prayer any better than you, but I believe that it is necessary. I believe God hears our prayers. I believe it means something to him. Won't you make a commitment to personal and corporate praying?