Why Pray? or Confessions of a prayer neglecter.

There were many reasons I chose not to pray and a few reasons I was very reluctant to pray. For too much of my life, I was mostly prayer-less.

First, prayer was misrepresented. It fell victim to my hubris and possibly partly to the prosperity gospel. I wanted to “have it all.” As a result, I was snared by my selfishness and success. In short, I put too much faith in myself. The teachings of Jesus concerning God’s provision and Paul’s concerning giving were distorted or disregarded. In my mind, there was no need to pray “...give us this day our daily bread”* since I was sure I could earn it.

Second, I lived like I believed the false teaching of “grace to sin.” It holds that once we are saved, we are still slaves to sin and therefore have permission to sin. We can say anything we want, go anywhere we want, and do anything we want. My limits were defined by me and not by the Holy Spirit. The movies I watched, the music and jokes to which I listened, and the behavior I engaged in were my business. Therefore I felt no need to pray “…and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”*

Third, I felt no need for daily repentance. I lived like sin was irrelevant. I disregarded the Bible’s teaching that sin is transgression. Sin is missing the mark. Sin is crossing the boundary. Sin carries a heavy cost. It is a debt owed to the owner, to society, or the governing authority. Under the old covenant, it was a failure to keep the law. Under the new covenant, it is a failure to keep God’s law written upon my heart. “…And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”* was all about money, not my debt to God.

Fourth, I failed to comprehend the sovereignty of Christ. In its absence, I incorporated the world’s way learned from Satan in the Garden. I believed I was a god and could choose my own way. My life was my kingdom. The idea that I was bought with a price and I was not my own (1Cor.6:20) was disregarded. For me, since I was in charge, there was no reason to pray “Your kingdom come, Your will be done”* or any other prayer.

To me, prayer was not essential and a huge waste of time. Maybe you can imagine the result. Fortunately, through a process the memory of which has faded over the years, I eventually returned to an appreciation of prayer. I imagine my change of heart was due to a severe crisis of some sort. In any event, the crisis may have been deplorable and no doubt completely or partially of my own making, but the result was good. I value prayer greatly now.

As a reformed prayer neglecter, I would like to invite you to attend an organized prayer service. Thursday is our weekly prayer service at All Peoples Church. It is easy to attend virtually over the internet at 7 PM PDT, 8 MDT, and 9 CDT. The link is provided at our website APCofAZ.org. Get your prayer life kick-started by joining others who are passionate about prayer and with at least one who is a repentant and reformed prayer neglecter.

Your brother,

Pastor Jerry

*scriptures quoted are from Matthew chapter 6:9-15 (NKJV, KJV).