Why Doesn’t Prayer Work?Sýnishorn

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 our relationship with God—staying connected to Him through prayer helps us walk in our faith and resist temptation.

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. 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, we see 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 (Gen. 12:1). 

Abraham wasn’t always faithful, and he didn’t always turn to God first, but he always repented. He always returned to actively and obediently walking with God. Matthew 26:41 tells us to “watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (NLT). 

Prayer isn’t always easy. But as you pray, you participate in an adventure with God—one that can include risks and sacrifices that push you out of your comfort zone, testing your limits of faith and trust.

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?