The Problem of Prayerlessness

I once heard of a preacher who announced to his congregation one Sunday that the following Sunday morning, he was going to preach on the greatest sin practiced by the overwhelming majority of the church. Throughout the week members of the congregation were buzzing about the possible sin to which their pastor was referring. Was it gossip? Was it lust? Was it pride?

The following Sunday the pastor stepped into the pulpit and announced that the greatest sin committed not only in their church but also most churches in America was the sin of prayerlessness.

I’ll not soon forget a passionate Evangelist named Pat Perry from Simpsonville, SC. Pat came to lead a revival for us in our first full time church in Gaffney, SC many years ago.

Pat preached on this same sin, the sin of prayerlessness. It was from this Evangelist that I first heard that the average prayer time of most believers was less than 1 minute each day. I thought that terrible until I heard him say that the average amount of time most pastors prayed was less than 3 minutes each day.

But it was a book by Dr. Jack Taylor entitled, Prayer: Life’s Limitless Reach, that made a lasting impact upon my life. It was also this book that first introduced to me the idea that prayerlessness is a major sin among believer’s today.

The Bible contains many great men of prayer. Moses certainly was one who communed with God in a very personal and powerful way. You have probably heard of Jabez or at least the prayer of Jabez.

1 Chronicles 4:9–10 (NKJV) 9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

Another great man of prayer was the man known as Samuel. Samuel was actually born as a result of prayer. His mother, Hannah, who had no children, sought God through tears and a broken heart for a son, at the altar of God. God heard her prayer and Samuel was born.

In the 12th chapter, Samuel is speaking prophetically to the children of Israel who had sinned against God by asking for a king. While God granted their request it came with a price.

Samuel warns the people of the consequences of their abandoning God as their One true King over them. But even with Samuel’s broken heart over Israel’s rejection he still makes them a promise here in verse 23. 1 Samuel 12:23 (NKJV) Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you;

So, Samuel, as a true mediator, pledges to keep praying for the people. (Centuries later Jeremiah spoke of Samuel as a great man of prayer.)[1]

Jeremiah 15:1 (NKJV) Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth.

I heard Tom Eliff, former President of the IMB ask this question, “Are you such a person of prayer that when you die they might accurately write in your epitaph, ‘He was a man of prayer, or She was a woman of prayer.’”

As we look at the Problem of Prayerlessness we first need to understand Jack Taylor’s Four Foundational Principles of Prayer.

1. No believer’s spiritual life will rise to stay above the level of his or her praying.

2. No church’s ultimate effectiveness will rise to stay above the level of its corporate prayer life.

3. No church’s corporate prayer life will be greater than the personal prayer lives of those who make up its constituency.

4. No believer’s prayer life will rise to stay above the level of his or her own personal, regular, daily time of worship with God.[2]

Definition of Prayerlessness – Prayerlessness is that state in which a believer prays less than he ought; less than the Father desires; and less than he knows he ought to pray.

I. PRAYERLESSNESS AS A SIN

Prayerlessness is sin not just a short coming or an area of weakness in our lives. Remember what the Apostle James tells us in James 4:17 (NLT) Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

And sin can only be dealt with by confession, repentance, forgiveness and cleansing.

A. Sin against the Person of God

Prayerlessness is a sin against the Person of God. God has commanded us to pray. He has told us He delights in our prayers

B. Sin against the Purpose and Plan of God

Someone has rightly said, “God does nothing but in answer to prayer.” God has given us prayer as the one means by which we can bring heaven down to earth in order to accomplish His purposes.

Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer to pray this way. Matthew 6:10 (AV) Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

To neglect prayer as the agency to accomplish God’s will on earth is spiritual treason because it means we choose instead to implement our own flesh-born programs in its place.

To often we pray for God to bless our plans. Instead we should ask God what plans He would choose to bless.

C. Sin against the Pleasure of God

Someone has said that prayer means infinitely more to God than it does to man.

Proverbs 15:8 (NKJV) the prayer of the upright is His delight.

The Father enjoys the prayers of His children!

D. Sin against the Promises of God

“Ask and you shall receive” and “you have not because you ask not” are more than biblical principles of truth concerning prayer. They are promises stated both positively and negatively. To fail to pray leads to a certain failure not only in the spiritual realm of our lives, but also in every other realm; but in a more positive light, when we pray, when we ask, we may anticipate far better things.

E. Sin against the Power of God

You would think that modern day Christians simply do not believe that all the power of Almighty God is still available to them today. The truth is all that power is available for the Christian and for the Church still today. And the channel to that power is called prayer.

Each us should determine that we not only have a daily time of prayer but that we include our church in that daily intercession.

II. PRAYERLESSNESS AS A STRONGHOLD

Prayerlessness, like most other sins is more than a sin if it is allowed to exist across the years. It develops into a stronghold, a spiritual stronghold.

Strongholds are marked by a seemingly never-ending patterns of failure, guilt, confession, and forgiveness, only to find oneself returning to the same sinful pattern.

2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (NKJV) 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

III. PRAYERLESSNESS AS SPIRITUAL SUICIDE

Prayerlessness as a sin can be forgiven.

Prayerlessness as a stronghold can receive deliverance.

Prayerlessness as spiritual suicide can be turned into spiritual victory. How? Through the prayer life of Jesus.

Romans 8:37 (NKJV) Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

In Christ we live the Christian life. In Christ we love as He loved.

It is Christ in us that gives us the victory to be all that God commands and we desire.

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV) I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Conclusion:

E.M. Bounds, “Non-praying is lawless, discord, anarchy. The whole force of Bible statement is to increase our faith in the doctrine that prayer affects God, secures God’s favor which can be secured in no other way, and which will not be bestowed if we do not pray.”

[1] John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck and Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures(Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1 Sa 12:6–25. [2] Taylor, Jack R. Life’s Limitless Reach, Broadman Press, 1977, p. 12.

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