Is Prayer Important?

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2, ESV) 

When life gets busy and things on our schedule begin to slide, is prayer one of those things? Surely the Lord understands. Doesn’t He? I could quote statistics on how many pray daily, weekly, or whenever. I could go even further to break it down by gender, age, ethnicity, or whatever. But really, the only important question is this: Am I praying like I should? That is what matters most.

What Happens When We Don’t Pray?

I began to consider what happens in our lives when we slack off on prayer.  Does it affect our walk with God? Does He even expect us to pray every day? I think the above verse answers that question.

Since I’m a list maker by nature, I began to jot down what happens when our prayer life gets lax. You may be able to add other thoughts to this list.

• We become more susceptible to wrong spirits and ungodly habits.
• We make bad choices and decisions.
• We lose our spiritual, and even physical, stamina.
• We become carnal and lose our sensitivity to things of the Spirit.
• We lose our spiritual hedge of protection.
• We give in to temptations more easily.
• We begin to rely on self rather than God.
• Our relationship with God diminishes.
• Our joy ebbs away.

If prayer is our communication with God, that link becomes broken when we don’t pray.

Sometimes it isn’t a total lack of prayer but rather a lack of praying as much as we know we should. Or as much as the Lord desires us to spend time with Him.

Colossians 4:2 tells us to pray “steadfastly.” First Thessalonians 5:17 says to “pray without ceasing.”  Ephesians 6:18 admonishes us to “keep alert with all perseverance.” When we do this, we keep ourselves in a continual attitude of closeness with God. But we also need that dedicated alone time each day when we are “shut in with God.”

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6, ESV)

The words of an old hymn speak of this longing to be shut in with God.

Shut in with God in a secret place,
There in the Spirit beholding His face,
Gaining new power to run in the race,
I long to be shut in with God.

—Everett W. Sugg

What Happens When We Do Pray?

• Prayer draws us closer to God.
• Prayer helps us resist temptation.
• Prayer gives us direction and aligns us with God’s will.
• Prayer reveals any sin in our lives.
• Prayer helps us gain wisdom.
• Prayer helps us grow in gratitude.
• Prayer leads us to become intercessors.

The Lord desires to spend time with us and is always ready to meet us for time together. When we approach Him in prayer, we can always do this boldly and with confidence. He will never ignore us or turn us away.

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16, ESV)

Spend time with your Lord today. He’s waiting for you to meet together. 

It is the power of the Holy Ghost in us which creates all real prayer, even that which takes the form of a groan because the mind is incapable, by reason of its bewilderment and grief, of clothing its emotion in words.

—Charles Spurgeon