Why We Don’t Pray

Why don’t we pray more often? Why do we put off prayer, sometimes even avoid it?

Maybe we don’t pray more because we think we don’t have the time. But is that true? How much time do we spend on social media every day? The latest research says that people in the United States check their social media accounts seventeen times per day. That’s once every waking hour.

We waste so much time on our phones. Imagine if we prayed seventeen times a day instead of checking our social media? Then factor in all the hours we spend binge–watching television shows. We say we don’t have time to pray, but the fact is that we make time for what matters to us.

Perhaps another reason we don’t pray is because we don’t think prayer is all that important. Of course, we would never admit that outright, but do we really think so?

Prayer is very important.

For instance, when God led the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt and promised to bring them to a new land, there was an obstacle in their path. The mighty city of Jericho was a huge fortress, and there was no way they could bring it down militarily.

So, they prayed, and God gave them an unorthodox battle plan. And it worked. The walls of the fortress came down and the Israelites took control. After that, they needed to conquer Ai, a city much smaller than Jericho. But they didn’t pray about it, and when they went in, they were soundly defeated.

The Bible says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6 NKJV). It doesn’t say that we should only pray about some things or the big, scary things, but about everything.