Why don't people come to prayer time at our church?

On Wednesday evenings at NRN a group meets to remember the prayer request of the church.  Our corporate prayer time is open for all but usually only averages about 7-10 people. I feel these individuals are the watchmen who stand in the gap and pray for our church. I often wonder why people do not come the church and pray.

I suspect most of us don’t pray because:

• We don’t think we have time.
• We don’t think it is important.
• We don’t believe that it makes any difference.

First of all, we do have the time! According a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, a Neilson Study reported that in 2010, Americans spend 63.5 billion minutes on social networks and blogs.¹ How much time do you spend on social networks like Facebook? Another Nielson study indicates that an average Internet user spends 68 hours on the Internet per month, about 2 hours and 6 minutes per day. ³ I rest my case; we do have the time to pray. As someone put it recently, “One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time.”⁴

Secondly, prayer is necessary!
We know that while He was on earth, Jesus was dependent on spending vital time in prayer with the Father. How much more should we? Hebrews 5:7 reveals the passionate prayer life of our Lord. During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Before you think that you don’t need to take time to pray, think of the staggering defeat of the Israelite army when they went up to fight against the little city called Ai. Confident with victory over the mighty fortress of Jericho, they neglected to pray and consult the Lord before going to battle. Bold and careless, they were soundly defeated.

Lastly, prayer does make a difference!
I love this quote:  Prayer is “not for getting man’s will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done on earth.”³ Prayer’s not magic; it isn’t simply submitting a grocery list to God. Remember that our Father is in heaven and we are on earth. But as His children, we can be confident that He wants to bless, use, guide, and provide for us. Perhaps “you have not because you ask not.”

How’s is your prayer life? Don’t you realize that what breathing is to our physical lives, prayer is to our spiritual lives?

“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Why not plan now to join us NEXT WEDNESDAY - January 9 at 6:30


¹Bernstein, E. (2011, January 11). Your blackberry or your wife. The Wall Street Journal, D1 & D4. (Also available via http://on.wsj.com/gXASsx)
²Warren, C. (2009, October 14). Average Internet user now spends 68 hours per month online. Mashable.com via http://tinyurl.com/linchikwok01122011
³John Piper