Why Doesn’t Prayer Work? A Look at Prayer From the Example Jesus Set by Wycliffe Bible TranslatorsSample

Don’t Let Us Yield To Temptation: Why Isn’t Prayer Easier?

A relationship built with quality time is steady and not easily broken. The same is true of your relationship with God — staying connected to Him through prayer helps you walk in your faith and resist temptation, which is a very real threat. Jesus told His disciples to “Keep watch and pray so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” (Matthew 26:41, NLT)

So why isn’t prayer easier? Maybe it feels like a duty — that task your parents or Sunday school teachers always asked you to do. Or it just feels like you’re going through the motions; your mind and heart aren’t really in it. But approaching prayer as a must-do or to-do instead of a relational conversation makes it more difficult than God ever intended it to be.

Throughout Scripture, you can find many examples of men and women who walked in close relationship with God — walks that were often filled with adventures, challenges and leaps of faith.

Take Abraham, for example. Abraham walked with God through the ups and downs of his life, believing Him through some strange times and seemingly risky requests. That included when God told Abraham to leave his home and family to go to the land He was promising, land that still belonged to the Canaanites at the time (Genesis 12:1).

Abraham wasn’t always faithful; he didn’t always turn to God first, but he always repented. He returned to actively and obediently walking with God. And Abraham is commended in Hebrews 11 as a hero of the faith.

There are other ways prayer might feel difficult. Like Abraham, you might need to return to obeying God. You might have sin you’re holding onto (Psalm 32:3-6; Psalm 66:18); so don’t forget how generously God forgives confessed sin and then loves to draw you close to Him again. Or prayer might feel difficult when you just don’t know what to say; so don’t forget that the Holy Spirit will help you in your weakness and even talk to God for you when you can’t find the words (Romans 8:26-27).

Prayer isn’t always easy. But as you pray, you participate in an adventure with God — one that includes risks, sacrifices and a need for humility — that will push you out of your comfort zone, testing your limits of faith and trust in your loving heavenly Father.

Questions for Reflection:

• Think of a time when you stepped out of your comfort zone. What was the result?
• Did you grow up praying or grow up in a community that prayed? How did those early experiences impact your prayer life now?
• What do you find most challenging about letting go and relying on God through prayer? Do you find it difficult to trust Him completely?