Prayer is one of my greatest interests and passions, as well as one of my ongoing convictions and struggles in life, and I know many out there are in the same struggle as I am and also desire to change their prayer life drastically!
Although at times I will write on various biblical topics on my blog, I’ve decided to write extensively on the subject of prayer for the remainder of the year. Below I’ve listed six main reasons why I would like to cover this topic:
Reason One: I want to focus on an area that I don’t often read in Christian blogs.
Reason Two: I strongly believe the Lord has impressed prayer in my own life over the past two years (yes I believe the Spirit does impress, but He uses the His Word to do so and not inner voices that I must listen hard for in my closet). So I’m itching to get it out!
Reason Three: Prayer, I believe, is one of the most neglected biblical and theological subjects of the church today. It seems I rarely read a good book on prayer or hear a good message on prayer, even from Pastors – possibly because they feel they have fallen short in this area. I don’t believe that I am the greatest example either, as I too struggle, but I hope this blog will be an additional help to myself and to you in developing and strengthening our prayer devotion to the Lord…together.
Reason Four: Our evangelism suffers greatly because the church fails to pray for the lost. It’s as simple as that. Many of today’s churches are focusing so much on new programs and new ideas for outreach and yet neglecting the most important ingredient in reaching the lost: intercession for the Spirit to work in the hearts of men and women.
Reason Five: A significant reason why I want to aim my blog at prayer is that people don’t seem to know why they should pray or how they should pray or even what to pray for. I preached on prayer several months ago in our church during the summer and a number of people thanked me for that particular message, more so than other messages that I have preached. I don’t believe they were appreciative because it was such a wonderful inspiring sermon, but I truly believe it was because they haven’t been told the why, how, and what of prayer. It seems we (our families and the churches in the last decades) have failed to teach their children and subsequent churches how to pray, and that is a grave mistake.
Reason Six: I have had numerous conversations with Christians, young and old, mature and immature, in small groups and big classes, in college and seminary, in small churches and big churches, in the pastorate and as a layperson, over Starbucks coffee and McDonalds coffee, and many I have spoken with in these various contexts struggle with prayer the most. Of course, we all seem to struggle some with reading our Bibles consistently or understanding various aspects of theology, or faithfully attending our local church, or we may struggle with sharing the good news to our neighbor, but most, if not all, seem to have a much deeper and ongoing struggle with maintaining the privilege and habit of prayer.
Maybe this blog can be just one small step towards helping others to transform their prayer life.
