Thoughts on Prayer

The purpose of prayer is to develop a relationship with God. When we have a relationship with God, he blesses us.

God desires for his children to prosper, but prosperity doesn’t refer to acquiring material possessions like money, success, or power. Instead, God wants us to prosper spiritually, to grow spiritually, to thrive spiritually. He wishes for us to be blessed with the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The reason we often lack the fruits of the Spirit is that we do not ask for them. 

In simple terms, sin refers to a separation from God. There are two types of sin: the sin of commission and the sin of omission. A sin of commission involves breaking ethical rules and violating moral laws. Most people strive to obey these moral laws and aim to live ethical lives.

Our failure, our sin, is the sin of omission. When we ignore God or take God for granted, we create the sin of omission. 

The neglect of prayer is perhaps the most common sin of omission. Rushing through prayers, praying routine prayers, can lead to meaningless repetition. Instead, we must truly mean what we say and express only what is in our hearts. The best prayers are those that come from the heart. 

When we neglect to pray or rush through our prayers with vain repetition, we are quenching the spirit. When we fail to pray from the heart, our spirit slowly decays and gradually dies away.

I have developed a habit of going into the closet to pray. I set the alarm to pray for twenty minutes. I sit there and pray for 20 minutes, and when the alarm goes off, I stop. I get in the habit of sitting in the closet, but most of the time, my prayers are meaningless. They often are filled with vain repetition or distracted by wandering thoughts.

Many times—perhaps most of the time—I don’t feel like taking the time to pray. I feel overwhelmed by the demands of the material world, so when I sit in the closet, my mind begins to wander, preventing me from building a strong relationship with God.

When I find my mind wandering, I confess to God that I don’t want to pray. I tell Him that I’m too busy, that my thoughts are scattered, and that I can’t wait for the alarm to go off so I can leave the closet. When I pray this sincere prayer, I feel myself getting closer to having a relationship with God. If I maintain this relationship, He will bless me with the fruits of the Spirit. When we pray sincerely, God gifts us with these fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.