Why We Put Off Prayer

Why don’t we pray more often? And why do we put off prayer?

Maybe we don’t pray as often as we should because we think we don’t have the time. But is that really true?

How much time do we spend on social media every day? Recent research says that people in the United States check their social media accounts seventeen times each day. That is once every waking hour.

Imagine if we prayed seventeen times every day instead of checking our phones. We can waste so much time. Yet we’ll make time for what matters to us.

Maybe another reason we don’t pray is that we don’t think prayer is all that important. We would never admit that outright, of course. But what do we really think about prayer? It is, in fact, very important.

In the Book of Joshua, we read about the Israelites who were led out of the bondage of Egypt into a new land flowing with milk and honey. But there was an obstacle in their path: the mighty city of Jericho, a huge fortress.

There was no way they could bring it down militarily. But God told them He would give them the city. So, they prayed and called on God, and He gave them a rather unorthodox battle plan. They marched around the city, yelled, and blew trumpets. But it worked, and the walls of that fortress came crashing down.

Afterward they needed to conquer a smaller town called Ai. But the Israelites didn’t pray about defeating Ai. And when they went to capture it, they were soundly defeated. This serves as a reminder that we need to pray about everything.

The Bible says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (Philippians 4:6 NLT). Do you have a need today? Call out to Jesus.

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