I’d like to put something out there to all of you for discussion today. As the title suggests, it has to do with our prayer closet. Not the physical place we go to pray in private, but the practice of prayerful communion with the Lord himself. For the vast majority of Christians, the prayer closet remains a vacant place.
Today as I was sending an email reminder to our church that tomorrow evening is our monthly prayer meeting, I was struck by the discouraging reality of how few people ever come to a prayer meeting. This is not a phenomenon unique to our fellowship, but rather is more of a problem that continues to plague the modern church. And more importantly, I believe, prayerlessness is largely the reason for the ‘sensate’ lives lived by the majority of professing believers in the affluent West.
So, I must ask some questions, which I hope you will help me to answer.
1. Why wouldn’t a Christian, if s/he is truly that, want to pray and commune with the Lord and Savior of his/her soul?
2. Why wouldn’t a true believer find joy and look forward with excitement to the opportunity of locking arms with other brothers and sisters in Christ for a time of corporate prayer together, as we see with the early church in the book of Acts?
3. Is the lack of corporate prayer indicative of a lack of private prayer?
4. Is prayerlessness a sign of carnality, or is it a sign of something else?
5. Do you struggle with private prayer, corporate prayer, or both? If so, why do you think this is the case? If not, what are the reasons you enjoy participating and what would you say to those who do not share your experience?
6. Do you pray and attend prayer meetings because you want to be obedient to the Words of Jesus and the Apostles as they exhort us in the Scriptures, but nonetheless you do it reluctantly? And if so, what is your experience after you have participated? How would you encourage others who struggle to overcome the complacency or resistance of the flesh?
I’ve got many thoughts I would like to share on this, and I hope to encourage more prayer in all our lives, but the topic would become a very large post. Instead, I’ll break it up into segments. In the meantime, rather than ranting from my soap box, I prefer to know what uThink. Click on the ‘comment’ link below, and post your thoughts. Let’s discuss together this most-important topic.
Blessings in Christ to you today and throughout the week!
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