The Effects of the Lack of Prayer
Matt 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
We live in the age of convenience and quick fix. Responsibilities, Work, and Entertainment, have caused us lose TIME.
“I’m upset that prayer is out of schools, but who took it out of our homes?”
We are commanded to pray:
1Thes 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent {ACTIVE} prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
1 Tim 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
There is also something about praying in the mornings. There are four specific references to praying first thing in the mornings in scripture:
Ps 5:3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Ps 88:13 But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.
Ps 143:8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
Isa 33:2 O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
Prayer is communication, not just repeating the same thing over and over again...
Matt 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Eccl 5:2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
Apostolic people like to point out the fallacies of other people’s vain repitition, but we also are creatures of habit and easily fall into the traps of pointless repitition. Studying God’s Word, Coming to Church, Fasting, Listening to Sermons, Meditating on God’s Word, Talking about Spiritual things, or Reading Spiritual books are not substitutes for prayer!
There are several obvious effects of lack of prayer:
Jesus and Peter walking on the water, Jesus had just prayed, and Peter had slept... so when Peter began to walk, He began to sink. Water=spirit
Matt 14:22-23, 28-32 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. 23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. . . . 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
1. We change our focus from Jesus and His Word to our situation and storm.
Jude 1:20-21 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
2. We have trouble walking in the spirit. Water = Spirit John 7:38-39, John 4
3. We become spiritually sleepy.
Jesus praying in the Garden, and the disciples sleeping. Lack of prayer brings spiritual sleepiness.
Matt 26:40-45 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. 43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. 44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
4. Temptation seems to overwelm us. If we are not praying, then we are not subduing the flesh.
1 Cor 15:31b ... I die daily.
5. Inability to completely understand God’s Word.
6. Inability to understand God’s timing or the urgency of the Word of God.
7. Our emotional, mental, and physical stability is shaken up. It makes us miserable.
James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Ps 6:1-10 O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. 3 My soul {MIND} is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long?4 Return, O LORD, deliver my soul {WORRY}: oh save me for thy mercies' sake. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? 6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. 7 Mine eye {FOUNTAIN} is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies. 8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. 9 The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer. 10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.
8. It brings the wrath of God. (Which then in turn causes us to doubt God’s Word)
Ps 79:6 Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
Isa 43:22, 28 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. . . . 28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.
Jer 10:25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.
Dan 9:13-14 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
Zeph 1:4, 6 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests; . . . 6 And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor inquired for him.
When Jesus walked Peter back to the Boat, the scriptures state that the storm immediately ceased! When someone who had prayed, got on board, everything was all right!
9. It reveals that we do not understand the present crisis.
Throughout the Bible, the most prayers recorded are when people were in a state of crisis.
Abraham - when Lot, his nephew, was about to be destroyed
Job - when he lost everything
Jacob - when he was scared that his brother Esau would kill him.
Moses - when the Egyptians were closing in and the Red Sea was before him.
Gideon - when he was unsure of God’s will in his life.
Samson - when his mistakes had taken his strength.
David - asking God’s guidance in whether or not he should enter battles
Elijah - proving that his God was the one, true living God.
Elisha - when surrounded by the Syrian army.
Jesus - before beginning His ministry, before days of miracles, and before His arrest.
Peter - when he had denied Christ.
Stephen - when he was being stoned.
The Apostolic Church - when Peter was put in prison.
Paul - when he was sick, and when the churches that he had founded had church trouble.
When we have a crisis in our lives, we also turn to God and begin to earnestly pray.
But when things seem to be going okay in our lives, is usually the time that we slack up on prayer. When people do this, it is sign that they do not realize the spiritual crisis that is taking place.
Our world is lost!!! Our family and friends believe that they are all right spiritually!
Luke 10:2-3 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. 3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
We cannot let our world go to hell and sit prayerlessly by.